


Defiance's Price

by Jade_Max



Series: Defiance's Resurgence [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Graphic Description, Heavy Angst, Other, Rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:31:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Max/pseuds/Jade_Max
Summary: Set post Episode 7, Season 5; Ahsoka’s been captured by Hondo and his pirates and, for denying them their goal, she must now pay an unimaginable price.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas; he created the sandbox. I make no money off of this and am simply destroying the sandcastles

Defiance’s Price

Running his thumb over the lush lower lip of the Jedi Padawan who had caused him so much grief, Hondo contrasted the texture of her skin with his own; the smooth slide of unblemished satin against the roughness of sand. It was but one reason, he thought idly, he preferred females not of his own species and… Ahsoka had grown since their first encounter.

Her montrals had begun to arch above her head and curl down over her chest in an entirely natural, but unintentionally provocative, manner. Her clothing, like the last time he’d seen her, wasn’t exactly conducive to battle and certainly revealed that she’d grown into the hint of curves their first meeting had promised.

He dropped his hand. “Good night.”

The Padawan couldn’t hear him. Staring at her unconscious form, Hondo made a decision; she would fetch him quite a sum, but not as an untried youth. To be controlled she would either need to be drugged or, possibly, restrained by some kind of Force dampening bracer.

He’d hate to see her in chains if he could help it; it would diminish his asking price and cut into his profits. Rubbing his thumb across the pads of his index fingers, still feeling the welcoming softness that had been her lips, he pushed to his feet. “Take her away.”

“What’re we gonna do with a Jedi, boss?”

“What do we always do with Jedi? We profit!” Hondo looked around his bridge at his crew. “Place her in my quarters. It will not do to have a Jedi who can use the Force, yes?”

There was a moment of silence before the sound of an enthusiastic shout and a question. “When you’re done with her, then what?”

“Why, we will sell her, of course!”

“Do we get a turn?”

“Yeah, boss, it’s been weeks since we landed.” One of the larger crew made an obscene gesture with his hips and mimed holding two montrals while thrusting towards them. “Once you’re done with her, I’d like to take a turn docking in her port.”

“Ah, no. Alas, the buyer I have in mind will not want her over used before acquisition.” His eyes gleaming, Hondo surveyed his crew and their mutinous expression. “Set our course of Zygerria.”

A cheer went up, as Hondo knew it would, for there would be many a female when they landed for his crew, providing they had the credits. By making this sale, Hondo would ensure they did. The young one here would go to a private collector; one enamored with all things unique and a Jedi Padawan was certainly unique.

It was unfortunate he would have to break her in as a part of the deal; the buyer wanted no untried, shrinking females and Hondo always aimed to deliver the credit’s worth. He supposed he could have returned her to the Jedi, but they were notoriously stingy when it came to spice and he would be paid more handsomely than the Jedi could ever afford by selling her off the regular market.

No; she would go to Zygerria and  _he_  would do what was necessary to ensure she was familiar with what would be demanded of her.

With a wave of one hand, he directed the two holding her away and moved back to his chair, taking a seat as the crew returned to their stations. They plotted the aforementioned course and set in, Hondo tapping out a sequence on the ship’s command console as he investigated his potential client and ensured he was still in the market for the unusual. The evidence was promising, with a very professional page proclaiming the desire to acquire rare and valuable treasures but, as before, there was special note made to wanting no untried merchandise; code, in Hondo’s world, for women who knew what was expected of them.

Waiting until they were in hyperspace before rising to his feet and heading back towards his chambers, his hands crossed behind his back, he considered what was about to happen. What would have to occur within his chambers to seal the ludicrous deal a captive Jedi Padawan would bring.

He was about to make this professionally personal.

Oh, it wasn’t personal on his end, but his experience with women of all races had shown they took intimacy personally. And he would have to introduce the Padawan to intimacy for this deal to work. She wouldn’t like it; would likely fight him despite the fact it wasn’t about  _her_.

If she’d just let him take the crystals, he wouldn’t have been driven to these lengths and his credits would already be secure.

Jedi; they were always so stubborn.

Opening the door to his quarters, a compartment that was easily double the size of the other crew quarters, he paused for a moment to look around. His newest acquisition lay, still unconscious, on the piled furs and fabrics on a low double bunk that made up his bed in the far corner of the room.

They’d dropped her unceremoniously on the bed and left, not bothering to anchor or chain her and, as Hondo closed the door, he lamented the fact that his client would likely do so.

Locking the door, he stepped to the side and pulled off his helmet and gloves, placing them on the back of a chair as he moved into the shadows of the dimly lit room. He leaned against one wall, stretching out to touch a furry bump embedded within it, considering his options as he idly stroked the knot.

While he had no wish to frighten her, it would be a regrettable necessity.

He watched as the young Jedi came to, her head lifting with a flinch and a wince, her hands coming up to cradle her head. Her eyes were still closed, her fingers moving methodically over her head and lekku, and he took a moment to examine her the way one would examine wares for sale.

She’d matured, as he’d noted on his bridge, with skin as soft as shimmersilk and unblemished upon initial inspection. He would have to confirm that and, if she was as exquisite under her clothes, raise his asking price significantly. A battle tried Jedi Padawan with very little superficial damage would be even more rare – priceless beyond even laser sword crystals! - on this market.

From his distance to her of several feet, he could see all of the attributes she seemed wholly unaware of.

How the elegance in her features was reflected in her bearing, translating into a confidence, despite her seated state, both alluring and repugnant. He would have to damage it a little before his buyer would consider her a worthy purchase. Such a shame, but it couldn’t he helped if he was to recoup his losses.

Below the slender arch of her neck, guarded on all sides by her lekku, her shoulders were young and strong, leading down to a body that openly declared her active lifestyle. She was slender, lean and lithe, every muscle in her body curved just the right amount to portray her as the woman she was on any world and not the overly muscular ones that could be viewed as repugnant by some.

Not that he was particularly picky about his women, but he was not a fan of a woman’s body if it was more muscular than his.

His gaze dipped clinically to her legs, sprawled as they still were across his bed, both wary and attracted by the power and precision he knew they held. Her feet were bare, her toes long and well defined, her boots having been removed, the only piece of clothing to be missing, and were, after a glance, noted to be by the door. Within those limbs was the power to severely injure, even without her special abilities, and he would be wise not to place him in a position where she could use it to gain the upper hand.

His gaze drew back upwards as she lifted her arms to rub the upper section of her montrals, still massaging in that uniquely unaware way; she hadn’t any idea the display she was giving him or the effect it was having as her elbows came up to reveal the swell of her breasts. Lovingly cupped within the fabric of her battle dress, they were suddenly being offered up like some kind of rare, succulent fruit and practically begging to be unwrapped.

Touched.

Tasted.

He shook his head at the waste. Surely a man had touched her before. If not, those clones had to be eunuchs not to give in to temptation. Fortunately, he was not and never had been a eunuch and, in this instance, had no compulsion or incentive to resist.

In fact, he had the best reason to  _insist_  - and would.

* * *

 

The soft jangle of metal on metal drew Ahsoka’s attention from the pounding in her head and her hands dropped, her eyes flying open as she pushed herself partly from the softness on which she’d been sitting; a softness she’d assumed was her bunk despite the strange scents.

As her eyes came open, the truth registered; she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

Instead of being in her bunk on the ship where she’d once built her lightsabers, the walls were unfamiliar. Opulent even. Draped in fabric and rare pelts with the arching branches of a tree curved into the construction, the room was a complete antithesis to everything familiar. Golden statues rimmed the room and from where she lay, propped up in one corner, she could see no door.

Shadows and darkness were prevalent in the room as there was very little lighting, and most of  _that_  was coming from a single fixture above her, effectively blinding her to anything or anyone that might be within those corners.

_Where am I?_ Her head ached, the dull throbbing of where she’d been struck and tenderness in her montrals enough to have her sucking in a sharp breath as even the slightest movement hurt. She felt heavier, her brain clouded and fogged, as if not quite all there. “Who’s there?”

“So. You are finally awake.”

She  _knew_  that voice - but she couldn’t see him.  “Hondo?”

“You have left me in a very difficult position, Ahsoka,” he told her, his voice coming from near one corner of the room and she squinted to see, easing forward to be out of the direct light. “Had you just given up the crystals, none of this would have been necessary.”

“They weren’t yours to take,” she told him shortly as her memory came rushing back, pushing to her feet and forcing back a wave of dizziness. “Where am I?”

“Tsk tsk,” Hondo came into view as he stepped from the corner, visibly feigning regret as he shook his head, taking her aback when he hung his coat on a wall protrusion. It was even worse when, after a moment, she realized he was without goggles, helmet and gloves; the jangle of metal she’d heard had come from his distinctive braids and their clasps. “Do you think I have not learned my lesson when dealing with you Jedi? You are still on my ship, where you will remain, until I have acquired the fortune you will obtain for me.”

“Me?”

“I am a businessman, Ahsoka,” he told her, his gaze never leaving hers, “every endeavor must have a profit and, as the crystals are now beyond my reach,  _you_  will earn me that profit.”

His words held an undertone she couldn’t understand and she shook her head. “I’m not going to help you get more crystals; I can’t.”

“Why sell crystals when I can sell  _you_?”

She couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Me.” Her head still hurt, her mind foggy, cloudy and murky and she couldn’t think straight, but somehow that struck her as funny. “You can’t sell me, Hondo, I'm not yours to sell.”

“On the contrary, my dear, female captives with beauty such as yours fetch a high price in the slave markets and there are those who would pay much, very much more, for the chance to tame a Jedi.”

There was enough of a threat in his congenial tone that Ahsoka’s training kicked in and she dropped into a defensive stance, trying to clear the sluggishness in her mind. “I won’t let you sell me.”

“You are as good as already sold my dear,” his tone was regrettable. “I know someone who will be very interested in having you added to his collection.”

“I’m not for sale.”

“No; not anymore,” he agreed and Ahsoka backed up a step as he started to undo the cuffs on his shirt, her leg hitting the bunk. “There is a contingency to the agreement however; one I must see to personally.”

“Don’t come any closer,” she warned him, her mind spinning.

“Or what, you will use your laser swords on me?”

Even as disoriented as she was, Ahsoka was under no impression he’d left them to her. She didn’t feel their familiar weight on her hips and she certainly didn’t know where Hondo had hidden them. “I don’t need a lightsaber to kick your ass.”

“Ah, that energetic spark I do so enjoy so much about you! Come then; attack me. Earn your freedom!”

It was an invitation and a challenge all in one.

“You asked for it,” Ahsoka thrust both hands out before her, intending to slam the pirate into the wall as she reached for the Force – to find nothing. No glimmer of power, no mystical energy at her fingertips. The Force was silent, as if she’d been completely cut off, and the first shiver of unease skittered down her spine.

"I am waiting, Ahsoka."

She tried again, concentrating as she never had before, struggling to reach the Force within her, only to find the same glaring absence; the same vacant maw where it had always been. Licking her lips, she glared at Hondo and tried a little false bravado. "I will if I have to, just stay there."

"You would if you could, you mean." He was smug in his victory. "You Jedi are not so tough when you cannot access the Force."

He knew. The knowledge was in his eyes, his voice, for her to see and she eased away another half step. “What… what did you do to me?”

“Me?” Hondo laughed, staying where he was as he pulled the tails of his shirt from his pants, his gaze never leaving her face. “I have done nothing. An acquisition of mine after the last time I dealt with you Jedi; very expensive and very rare, but worth every credit.”

“What…” Ahsoka slid her foot to the side, finally able to identify the feeling that had been plaguing her since waking, and determined to put some distance between herself and Hondo; his matter of fact manner was eerily at odds with the fact he seemed to be disrobing. “Is it permanent?”

“I am told it is not; perhaps we shall test it when this business is all over with, yes?”

“What business?”

“I have no wish to make this harder on you, my dear,” he didn’t answer her question as he undid the clasp to his pants but took them no further. “Cooperate and it will be over quickly.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You will not like the consequences.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. Despite the fact that Hondo had been unreasonable when he'd come after the younglings, he'd always been reasonable in the past; perhaps losing the Force would be the worst of it. If she could just get through this, bear it and see it as a part of her training, she might be able to find an avenue of escape. Her answering question, as a result, was cautious and didn't commit her to anything. “Just what is it that I’m supposed to cooperate with?”

“Very simply put, I must ensure that your new Master is not the first male you have copulated with.”

Copulated.

Ahsoka knew she paled; she felt it as the blood drained, the chevrons on her montrals faded to such a pale blue they were almost white as the hue of her skin took on a sickl, pale orange tint. Her eyes widened as she stared at Hondo, certain she must have heard him wrong. "I'm sorry -  _what_?"

"Copulated. Joined. Mated. Coupled. Shared Relations," Hondo listed off several synonyms before laying it out in black and white. "A woman such as you has had intercourse before, yes? This will be as pleasant, perhaps more so, as those times."

"I've nev-" she bit her tongue before she could finish, taking another half-step back, easing her way towards where she'd spied her boots on the other side of the room. The unease that had started to build was quickly moving towards a panic she couldn't allow him to see. "I think I'll pass," she amended. "You're not really my type."

He tsked again, shaking his head, and resumed his advance on her. "So young. I had hoped you would cooperate, Ahsoka; it would have been better for you."

They moved at exactly the same time, Ahsoka dropping into a crouch and a lunge, going for her boots and the activation controls to the door she'd spied a bare half second before, even as Hondo reached for her.

He missed, his fingers grazing the end of the lekku that hung down her back as she tightened into a roll and came up by her boots, slapping her hand against the door's controls as Hondo cursed behind her, collecting himself.

The door didn't open.

_No._

She tried another series of numbers, this one more complex, getting another red light, time slipping through her fingers, wishing she had a lightsaber.

_No._

Pressing another sequence, she tried again, knowing she didn't have the time she needed to slice through it properly and she needed to get away  _now_.

Red light.

_NO!_

Slapping her hand against the control console, she  _willed_  it to release her.

_Open; please open!_

Any second Hondo was going to catch up with her and, no matter her protest or refusal, he would do what was necessary to guarantee his profits.

She'd seen her fate in his eyes and she was determined to do everything she could to escape it.

* * *

 

Hondo watched as the young woman attempted to exit the room, frantically pushing the buttons in various sequences and completely unaware that it was a biometric lock; until he let her leave, she wasn't going anywhere.

Such a shame she was fighting this, he mused as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to realize he wasn't going to grab her. Ideally he’d have liked her to concede, to make the experience one worth repeating.

The young Jedi was a passionate woman. As a willing partner, would he have been able to sample that passion? Alas, he would likely never know.

"The door is locked, Ahsoka."

"Then give me the code and let me leave." She rounded on him, her eyes blazing in their defiance, but also shadowed deep within by trepidation. "I won't be a part of your... of what you intend."

"You seem to think you have a choice. No. I will make do with the profit you and your lightsabers will bring; in fact, you will make me a very wealthy man."

"Take the lightsabers and the crystals if you want them," she offered, though she was truly in no position to make the bargain, "I'll even pull them out and give them to you if you'll just let me go."

Toying with her a little, and enjoying it, he appeared to consider her offer and then heaved a sigh with a shake of his head. "Alas, no. Two crystals will not bring me the same profit I would have received for five, nor a fee on par for what I will ask for you."

"Touch me and I'll kill you."

"Without the Force, I am more than a match for one scared girl."

"You don't scare me."

He couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from him. "Ah, young one, only the stupid are not scared when they are faced with the unknown. The unknown is full of profitable possibilities, of chances we would not otherwise get."

"This is one chance I'll pass on."

Hondo didn't reply, simply looked at her defiant stance for a moment, smiled - and then made his move. His steps were sure but swift, crossing towards her with deliberate purpose.

Ahsoka threw her boots at him, which he deflected with an upraised arm, and then, to his delight and surprise, she darted to the side, kicked off the wall and attempted to round house kick him in the head. Graceful and powerful, the move had the hallmark of training and he reacted with his own.

Ducking under the assault, he reached to grasp her trailing leg, his fingers closing about her ankle and used her own momentum against her. Dragging her down, he assisted her into a controlled fall, keeping her off balance so not to try it again.

But she was good.

Caught through she was, she didn't give up.

Thrashing back and forth, she slammed her opposite heel into his wrist, numbing his hand, and Hondo growled, losing patience. He had a job to see to, a buyer to confirm and it all hinged on ensuring he could personally assure the buyer his merchandise was gently used and not coming to him as a completely clueless and useless body.

His forearm came up to catch hers, his wrist twisting as he let go of her leg, back stepping her towards his bed. They traded blows, Ahsoka ducking and darting, seeking a method of escape and any way to gain the upper hand, but Hondo knew his quarters and his ship, and was confident she could and would find nothing.

They came at one another again, trading a series of blocks until, twisting his wrist as he turned into her body, preventing a further assault, he caught hers within the grip of his thumb and forefinger before spinning around in a lightning fast move. His other hand was free for just a moment and he used it wisely, catching the seam of her battle dress, and tearing upwards and out from underneath the hem.

Ahsoka gasped, still writhing, and Hondo shoved her arm up between her shoulder blades, making her still and cry out, arching onto her toes in an attempt to avoid the pain. The position left her vulnerable, her body cocked at an awkward angle, her free hand unable to reach around to break the hold. Without the Force, she was completely at his mercy.

"I did warn you that this would have been far easier and more pleasurable if you had simply cooperated," he murmured the words against her cheek, tightening his grip. "Now it will be an unpleasant matter for us both."

"Don't do this, Hondo," she gasped, on the verge of begging. "We can find another way to get you your fortune; the Jedi Council-"

"Deals almost strictly with credits and will not ransom a Jedi," he finished, well aware of what her council would and would not do. "I will not deal with them, as the refuse to deal with me."

"Then deal with Lux Bonteri, the Senator from Onderon."

"The boy whose fortune is tied to the democracy of his planet?" He'd read about the Bonteri boy and been unimpressed. No matter how old the money in the Bonteri family, the fortune wasn't vast enough for the price Hondo could and would set. "Ha! He would never be able to afford my asking price."

Ahsoka tried to step forward as his hand moved back into the gap created by the torn seam of her uniform, his calloused fingers finding the satiny smooth skin beneath. His hand curved over her hip, pulling it back and drawing her buttocks firmly into the apex of his crotch. Her struggles ceased as she stiffened, feeling the length of his erection pressing into the seam of her backside.

"Please, Hondo," she did beg now as she tried to move away from his touch. "I don't want this."

"I'm sorry, my dear," he continued to slide his hand up her skirt, through the ripped stitches, working it into giving way as he held her captive against him, her arm locked tightly upwards to prevent further struggle. "Trust me when I say this is only business. "

"Hondo, please-"

"No," he told her flatly. "You have robbed me of a veritable fortune; it is only right you repay me somehow."

"How do I repay a fortune you didn't even have your hands on yet? You're missing credits that aren't yours to count!"

"The credits would have been mine if you had not interfered," he reasoned, thrusting his hips against her even as she tried to get away and failed. "Thus, it is your responsibility to make reparations in a way I know I will get my credits."

"No, Hondo; I don't want this. I don't want  _you_ ; please don't do this."

"I'm afraid, my dear, that things have progressed too far already." Using the hand under her clothing, Hondo began to gather it together at the line of her stomach, sliding the fabric up and away from her backside where his aching length was suddenly more interested than it had been before.

A sharp pull on her wrist with a cry of pain nearly broke his grip as flesh met flesh, his tumescent length bare and aching, having long since been released from his pants, and pressing up the satiny skin of Ahsoka's back and buttocks as the fabric was pulled away. Her leggings were just that; they stopped mid-thigh and he was pleasantly surprised, unable to resist teasing her.

"Commando, Ahsoka? Tsk tsk; what would your master Skywalker say, hm?"

"Please don't."

Ignoring her, he used the leverage on her body to bend her slightly forward and took a look down her straight, supple back. Even with her bare behind pressed firmly against his crotch and one arm basically running the length of it, she was something to behold.

Her new master would be thrilled.

Still, she would not  _get_  a new Master if he did not finish what needed to be done before making the call to place her on the market.

"Hondo." His name was almost desperate on her lips, but he ignored her. "Hondo;  _please_."

"It is just business, young one." Sliding back, he eased a little distance between them, the hand on her hip grasping hard as he spread his fingers and use his thumb as a guide. Her whole body tensed as he first probed her, smelling her, her denials and pleas falling on deaf ears as Hondo focused on the credits her sale would bring.

That thought in mind, he eased the tips of his knobby, Weequay cock into her tight, virgin slit and, as her body tried to rebel against the intrusion, to prevent it, thrust home.

* * *

 

Ahsoka saw red.

Blinding, intense  _pain_ , unlike anything she'd before felt, rippled through her as Hondo shoved his cock forcefully into her body. Every ridge, every protrusion, grated against her sensitive flesh, tearing and sundering her body’s natural resistance as a shrieking scream of denial that was torn from her throat.

Her knees gave out.

She practically crashed to the floor with the pirate leader's cock still inside her. His still covered chest pressed against her back as he released her pinned arm to ensure they didn't land too heavily. It brought her no relief that his length slipped partially from her body as his braced above hers.

Over her.

_In_  her.

Her own arms had stretched to catch herself and, as she belatedly realized she had that control back and made to move, Hondo's hands moved first. Catching her almost painfully by the hips, his fingers dug in with deliberation as he bodily lifted her upwards and back, slamming her fully onto his pulsing shaft once more.

A sound that was more a sob than a shriek, filled her ears as he began to move her back and forth, catching and rubbing her raw with the width, breadth and unusual anatomy of his cock, his balls slapping against her tender, torn flesh.

Struggling to get her feet under her, she was suddenly dropped back to her knees with another cry as he tightened his grip on one hip, pressed his other hand between her shoulder blades, and began to move faster.

"Hondo," Desperate to put an end to it as she scrambled for some kind of hand hold that would allow her to pull herself free. "Hondo; stop!  _Please_  stop!"

"I cannot," he told her evenly, his words slightly breathless. "I must be able to say you have taken my cock; that you have known one man to completion."

Ahsoka choked on the bile that rose in the back of her throat, her whole body jarred with each shallow thrust that followed the long ones. She ached, her lower body almost numb from the abuse, the slide of his body within hers the only feeling left. Like raw skin over a field of dull razor blades and broken glass, the penetration was agony, but not enough to send her into shock. She whimpered with every move, every slide, every lunge of his body as it pierced the innermost recesses of hers.

The desire to get away, to escape, pushed her onwards and urged her to move, echoing in the back of her mind while, with the abuse already well into fruition, another part of her mind said to just let him finish; once it was done, it was over with and she could collect herself and regroup then.

Hondo's hands moved then, from her hip and back, drawing her up with the briefest of struggles as he used gravity and a grip on her breasts to draw her up and down his cock. The tightness of it within her body was overwhelming as she felt it swell, gaining in size, enough to make her shriek as she writhed on his lap to escape the tumescent horror within her.

She grasped his hands, her nails digging in and drawing blood as she tried to break his ironclad grip. Her struggled had no effect on her captor and Hondo's hold on her tightened, his hips moving a fraction faster, slamming the engorged organ within her again and again as she begged for him to stop.

Until, suddenly, he did.

His hands at her breasts tightened unbearably, his whole body arching behind her and tensing as, with a final, vicious thrust of her hips downwards, his came up and he began to shake.

A gush of warmth erupted almost painfully within her, easing and soothing the internal burning with an unfamiliar stinging pleasure-pain sensation. A sob catching her throat, she felt the durasteel shaft within her soften, her conscious mind only able to grasp the fact that this torture was over, as she weakly shifted, falling forward and, when Hondo made no move to stop her, crawled painfully out of his arms.

A sticky, gooey mess dribbled and dripped between her legs, her joints and insides feeling as if they'd been abused with a droid gate smasher. Shaking, she moved as far away as she could before fearing collapse and curled into the nearby corner, wrapping her arms about herself as she stared with wide eyes at the man who'd assaulted her.

She was too weak to run, too weak to fight back much more and, as she stared at him, her heart skittered in fear as she waited for whatever came next.

* * *

Hondo didn't move.

He fought for a moment to catch his breath, reflecting on the fact that the Padawan's fight had been in her to the very end; his buyer would enjoy that. His client preferred them lively and looked forward to breaking them eventually, providing he didn't have to fight the initial fight.

Still sitting where she'd left him to be, he watched her watching him; the shock and wariness in her expression couldn't be helped. He'd done what was necessary to secure the deal that would make him a very,  _very_  rich man.

It was simply unfortunate that she hadn't been able to see things his way.

With how passionately she'd fought to escape him, he could only imagine how passionate she would be with a willing lover. It was a true shame he would never find out.

Still mostly dressed, her skirt only partially torn up one seam from bottom to hip, her leggings pulled down only slightly, she looked like a disheveled child; a child who, he knew first hand, had the body of a woman. A body that, despite its initial rejection of his male form, had been coerced and forced into acceptance.

Yes.

His investor would be  _very_ pleased.

Pushing to his feet, he saw her flinch, her eyes dropping to the now flacid cock that was disappearing as it shrank, sliding back under his shirt. Comfortable once more, he did up his pants and tucked in his shirt with a few no-nonsense moves.

"Now, my dear, let us put this unpleasantness behind us." Rubbing his hands together, he rolled down the cuffs of his sleeve, buttoned them in a smooth move and went to retrieve his helmet, gloves and goggles. "I can now tell my investor what I believe is a fair price for you and you... you will repay your debt to me in full."

Ahsoka looked away as he came towards her, pushing herself back up against the wall. She opened her mouth to say something and then didn't.

Hondo crouched next to her, watching as she stared at something beyond him, and shook his head. "Come now, my dear; this balances the scales between us once and for all."

She didn't answer and he sighed.

"I had hoped you would see that this was just business; nothing personal."

"Nothing..." she seemed to choke on the phrase.

"No," he agreed, ignoring the look of incredulity she was wearing, his tone deliberately as amicable as it normally was, "it is not. This is business, Jedi and  _you_  are good business.”

A gasping, gagging sound came from Ahsoka.

Hondo frowned. “If you must be sick, my dear,” he pointed back towards the bed they’d never used and to a small door near it, “do so in the fresher, hm?”

Pushing to his feet, he moved to the door on the other side of the room and, allowing her to watch, undid the biometric lock. “We are several days from my contact’s home world, Ahsoka,” he offered her a faint smile. “By the time we get there, we will have shared much more and you will no longer be so scared of me, yes?”

As he was leaving, he glanced back to catch the shudder that ran through her small, almost broken frame along with the clenching of her hands as she tilted her head at him defiantly.

Good.

She would need that spirit to survive where he was taking her and the better she showed it, the more handsomely he would be paid. He was looking forward to having a new fortune to spend.


	2. Chapter 2

Ahsoka felt more than heard the soft magnetic whir of the lock engaging as Hondo disappeared, the silence returning to the room with a rush of shocked relief.

He was gone.

Her eyes closed as she hugged her arms tight about her legs, unseeing eyes staring across the room as she unconsciously rocked back and forth, trying to find comfort in her own touch that her abused and broken body couldn’t give. Trying to find some semblance of understanding for what had just happened and why.

_He said it wasn’t personal._ The mantra was like a disbelieving litany that refused to be silent, Hondo’s words having contrasted deeply to conflict with her view on things.

What had just occurred had been  _deeply_  personal no matter what the pirate had said.

_Not personal._  A hysterical laugh bubbled up in her throat and she choked it back without thinking. Laughter was inappropriate, even the kind that would be mad and have a slightly frantic tone of disbelief.

But, as much as Ahsoka wanted to disbelieve, the put this behind her as a twisted and terrifying dream, the evidence of her senses wouldn’t allow it.

Everything below her neck hurt.

Her shoulders ached where they’d been pushed and pulled and then jarred to take her weight. The muscles of her back and chest protested the position after having been wrenched into such uncomfortable positions. A knot had formed in her chest that felt like a leaden weight, making the muscles tight and knotted, pulling this way and that in such a fashion that she could feel it clear from chest to hip.

Nothing, however, compared to the burning sensation between her legs, overshadowed only by the semi-numbness that was her lower body.

_Some Jedi,_ she chastised herself harshly, focusing on the fact that she’d lost to Hondo, just not what or how or why,  _Master will be so ashamed of me. I don’t deserve the title of Jedi. I don’t… I should have fought him harder; I should have… have…_ her mind blanked for a moment as she sagged against the wall, trying to remember what had begun this dark turn and the images of the younglings popped into her mind.  _I should have given him the crystals._

Whatever she  _should_ have done didn’t change the reality of the nightmare that had become her life but, despite the abuse Hondo had subjected her to, she couldn’t be sorry the younglings had escaped.  _Better me than them_.  _I can handle whatever they throw at me, right? I mean, the younglings are just kids… just…_

The thought, where it once would have been full of cocky assurance, was little more than bravado as she tried to convince herself that things could have been a lot worse.  _Worse._  The word echoed in her head almost hysterically.

Worse  _how_?

Hondo had  _raped_  her to ensure he could honestly tell a potential client than she had known a man’s body. Implying, she shuddered, that the abuse had only begun with the eventual outcome being her return to slavery in the sexual service of a very particular client.

Laughter bubbled up within her, the absurdity of the thought enough to make her want to laugh even as she covered her face with both hands and rubbed, the hysterical sound stifled before it could gain voice. She wasn’t sure if she’d laugh or cry and didn’t dare risk it.

Once she started, she didn’t know if she could stop.

Or if she’d be sick

_“If you must be sick, my dear, do so in the fresher, hm?”_

Hondo’s advice on the matter echoed clearly in her mind and her head snapped up, her eyes darting back and forth as her whole body clenched with fear and denial, certain he was back in the room. Her body was already protesting the thought of another ‘lesson’, her mind recoiling from the violence and depravity that would focus on her person.

But the room was quiet,  _empty_ , aside from her.

Slowly, as she took in the empty room, her muscles relaxed and she inhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves. The  _scent_  that struck her made her recoil and the sudden, overwhelming  _need_  to be clean, to scrub the feel of Hondo’s touch from her skin, from her core, was overwhelming.

She needed to find a ‘fresher.

_“If you must be sick, my dear, do so in the fresher, hm?”_

A ‘fresher.

The contents of Hondo’s last comment suddenly registered. A ‘fresher – which meant a  _shower_.

Pushing herself painfully to her feet, she held onto the wall as she regained her balance, wincing with her first step as the torn flesh between her thighs protested. Using the wall to maintain her balance, she inched her way forward one painful step at a time.

It took far longer than it should have to make her way across the room, gritting her teeth with every step as her fingernails dug into the wall. Determined, now that she realized the opportunity before her, Ahsoka forced herself to concentrate on that goal and nothing else.

Opening the door upon reaching it, she palmed the lights to find another opulent space. The ‘fresher was standard size for a luxury suit, like the one she’d been given when she’d first met Mina Bonteri, and held an upright shower in one corner that appeared to run with  _real_  water.

It was all she needed to see.

Stepping in and using the morning refreshing station’s counter for balance, she turned and closed the door behind her. Her eyes fell on a blessedly welcome, and totally unexpected, metal hinge about a third of the way up the portal.

It had a lock.

A pitiful excuse for one, but a lock all the same and she threw it immediately, locking herself into the room with the first sense of true security she’d felt since waking to find herself in Hondo’s room and his prisoner.

It wouldn’t likely stop him, or anyone else who wanted to get to her, but without it, Ahsoka wasn’t certain if she’d have been able, despite her  _need_  to be clean, to find the strength and conviction to strip. She had been assaulted and brutally violated by the pirate, but he’d left her clothes mostly intact; an unexpected dignity.

Her skin crawled with the thought, as her mind shied away from the reality of her situation and what had just occurred even as she practically tore her clothing off, the need to be  _rid_  of them sudden and overwhelming. Shucking the leggings with indecent haste and pushing them into the corner, her fingers tore at the fabric to undo her dress and whipped over her head with a muffled cry.

The nip of metal cutting into her neck went unnoticed with the bruised flesh of her breasts protesting the sudden release. Her dress followed the leggings, falling in a heap on the floor near the edge of the shower’s low lip.

Naked and sagging against the counter, she stared at her toes, taking a visual inspection of her body without really intending to. Bruises were already forming and appearing on her knees, her thighs were spattered with her own blood and mingled with a dark residue that had to be from-

She cringed.

_Don’t think about it._

The instruction snapped unbidden into her mind and she deliberately lifted her head, a shudder racking through her body and she stumbled towards the shower. Trembling hands twisted the knobs that started the hot spray and she slipped into the shower, the stinging needles harsh on her flesh but in a welcome fashion.

Standing on trembling legs, she slid under the torrential downpour, poured some of the antibacterial wash into her hands from a wall dispenser and began to scrub.

Her thighs received the first attention, well lathered suds sliding down her muscles and taking the blood and residue with it. She washed the area thoroughly, drawing blood when she scratched at a particularly sticky and messy stain high on the inside of her left leg, determined to get it off.

Soap and more soap, followed as she thoroughly bathed her thighs before moving to her stomach and posterior. They received the same meticulously frantic bathing, the tender, bruised flesh of her hips and knees bearing Hondo’s fingerprints. She could already see the dark circles forming on her skin and rubbed them savagely, trying to rub them away.

Her whole body, save the one true area where Hondo had penetrated, was clean before she dared. There was a throbbing feeling within her core, low in her stomach, like the tissues of a wound that hadn’t yet had the chance to knit closed. It was the only analogy she had, but it was apt.

With painstaking care, Ahsoka reached once more between her legs, her fingers lathered with cleansing foam and she had to bite her lip to prevent a scream as she touched herself for the first time.

Tender and swollen, the abused tissues of her vaginal opening had ragged edges her previous solo explorations had never revealed. Carefully, gently, she washed herself, using her fingers to seek out and remove any and all evidence she could feel of Hondo’s possession. She couldn’t, though she knew she should try, bring herself to slide her fingers inside; the prospect was too painful - just the tip of one finger made her cringe and want to scream. The penetration was too reminiscent of the attack and she quickly pulled her hands away.

Not clean enough by half, but exhausted and still in shock, her knees wobbled, threatening to give way as she finished her task.

Stepping back, she leaned against the wall for support and slid downwards, not bothering to change the angle of the shower’s head, letting the water wash over her in all its scalding force, a welcome difference from the core of ice that seemed to have settled somewhere in the center of her chest.

Her head lolled to the side, her eyes falling on her clothing outside the shower, more particularly on the glint of gold that the shower spray and diffused light of the room brought to her attention.

Gold.

She reached from the shower, her thumb and forefingers closing about the fine band which she, in her haste to enter the shower, had broken. Slowly, ever so slowly as if she were in a waking nightmare, she pulled it free from the pile of her clothing. Lifting it, her eyes never leaving the sparkle of the clasp, she pulled it into the shower and laid it across her other palm.

The short, broken choker chain of finely wrought links which had once appeared as a solid band held by a diamond shaped clasp in pure gold, lay glinting in her hand.

A diamond.

The emblem of Torrent Company.

_Rex._

Her throat closed as she thought of her dearest friend, her fingers tightening around the metal clasp, enfolding it within her hand, with enough force to slice into her flesh. She didn’t notice, her gaze no longer seeing the inside of the shower or even Hondo’s room.

She was seeing Rex, nervous and uncertain, presenting her with this token of the company’s esteem; presenting her with  _membership_  to the highly decorated company. Rex, surrounded by the men who’d come to be like family, all there to support him and welcome her, offer her acceptance.

An acceptance that now felt as alien as the violation that had stolen her innocence.

A whole body shake wracked her uncontrollably and she curled inwards under the spray, wrapping her arms tightly about herself, the token still locked in her fist, an anchor to the life before; a reminder of her most trusted companion.

A friend.

A man who always listened, no matter how mundane the thought, and who had accepted her completely. Laughed with her; held her; been there for her whenever she needed him.

A mentor.

The soldier and Captain anyone would be proud to serve with, more concerned for his men than with his own safety, he’d passed those qualities to her. As a result, she was deeply enmeshed within the Clone Trooper Corps and valued them as individuals and not carbon copies of the same man. In teaching her about the men, he’d taught her about herself and the kind of Jedi she wanted to be.

A protector.

When she’d been a young Jedi, he’d offered support and wisdom, watching her back and dragging her out of scrapes her cockiness had gotten her into. He’d been there to deflect her Master’s criticism, to share in the blame and to help her recover from the pitfalls that had inevitably drawn her Master’s ire. His presence has been enough to build her confidence and give her the strength to try again, even in the face of failure.

But he wasn’t there now.

He hadn’t come for her; hadn’t rushed to her rescue. He’d sworn to always be there when she needed him and, when she’d needed him most, needed him  _desperately_ ; he hadn’t even been in the same star system.

He’d  _failed_  her.

“Rex.”

His name whispered brokenly past her lips as the first tears slipped down her cheeks to be lost in the shower’s mists, shifting her position and curling up on her side as she placed her head on the ground. The pendant was clutched in the bloodless fingers of both hands, like a talisman, to her chest as blood oozed from the injuries to her palms. She didn’t notice; compared to the rest of her body, the pain in her hand was erroneous and non-existent. Drawing her knees up as far as she could without making the pain worse, she clung to the one reality that manifested in her grip and was suddenly glaringly obvious.

“Rex… why didn’t you save me?”

* * *

_“And you are certain it’s the female that was in the palace three months ago, Hondo?”_  The avaricious gleam in the holo’s eyes was unmistakable and boded well for Hondo’s pitch.  _“The Jedi_ Togrutan  _female?”_

“There are not so many Togrutan Padawans of her reputation and in my acquaintance that I would be likely to mistake them, my friend,” the reply was good natured. “I have consulted your description of her. She is most assuredly my guest,” Hondo looked down to his hands, rubbing his thumb against the small half moon of dried blood on one index finger, covertly watching his contact. “A very feisty and displeased guest, yes; but guest all the same.”

_“She is on your ship?”_

“Right at this very moment.” The assurance was easy and, in this case, true.

_“Providing you have her, name your price.”_

Hondo tsked. “I never bargain over holo channels, my good Atai, it can be so misconstrued. It would be a shame to have an important piece of contractually obligated information overlooked, or perhaps  _added_  by a careful slice, yes?”

Atai Molec, the Zygerrian Governor who’d been appointed control of the Empire after Queen Miraj’s untimely death at the hands of the Jedi - or so the story went - smiled.  _“If you have her, I will meet you.”_

Unwelcome news if Hondo had ever heard any, but he smiled all the same. Whenever possible, he did try to avoid having his clients on his ship at the same time as the cargo he was moving. It was just better for business. “Have you so much free time as Governor to meet the delivery of such cargo? We are already enroute to Zygerria and will be there by the end of the week.”

_“Too long,”_  countered the Zygerrian with a dark look.  _“If you have her, I want her. Now.”_

“Ah! To be a spice wealthy man with so much free time.” Hondo shook his head good naturedly, knowing by the look on Atai’s face he wouldn’t win this round. There was history here he didn’t comprehend, and didn’t care to, even though he could use it to his advantage. Taking the Padawan and selling her had been a good idea at the time; now it was not only paying off, but would do so more handsomely than he’d ever hoped. Just  _what_  would he do with all his free time? “A dream worth dreaming!”

_“Is that your price?”_

“Tsk tsk, Governor; as you will be joining me as an  _honored_  guest, I wouldn’t dream of negotiating before you have had a chance to inspect your purchase.” Hondo’s amicable smile grew just a fraction. “She is most striking; you have excellent taste.”

_“I am sure her looks are not all that is striking,”_  Atai Molec countered, anticipation written in every line of his body.  _“You have met my stipulations? She is ready for me?”_

“By the time you arrive, she will be.” The promise was made with a touch of distaste; sometimes his job had… unpleasant aspects.

_“Good; I would hate to break or damage the little skug irreparably her first day in my possession. I trust she is mostly intact?”_

“Mostly,” Hondo agreed, adding a quantifier he knew would allow him to set whatever price he wanted without argument. “She will not take to being a slave very well.”

_“Excellent.”_ There was nothing nice in the Governor’s expression; it was all predatory anticipation.  _“Send me rendezvous coordinate Hondo; I would have my prize as swiftly as possible.”_

* * *

Ahsoka lifted her head as a sound outside the ‘fresher reached her, the sensitive nature of her montrals picking up a vibration through the floor where her head had been pressed. Water still beat down on her though she couldn’t recall how much time had passed.

With her Force senses still blinded, she was relying on more mundane sources and the echo of the footsteps made her recoil. Something inside of her  _knew_  those footsteps and fear skated down her spine.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

The line of the Jedi code popped into her thoughts but, unlike times before where she’d drawn strength from it in the face of her fears, this time they echoed hollowly. She couldn’t touch the Force, the very source of the powers which made a Jedi who and what they were; the very source of the calm that helped one  _be_  at peace.

Without it, the words were just that; words.

_“Ahsoka?”_  the voice of the man who’d abused her came through the door. It rattled as he tested the lock and was unable to open it.  _“Come now, my dear, is it not rude for guests to avoid their hosts? Not to mention using all their bathing water as well?”_

The rudeness comment had no impact, but the second half of his question broke through the miasma in her mind with startling clarity.

She’d used all the bathing water?

That meant no water. No water meant no more showers and no showers meant that, if the abuse continued as Hondo had promised, she couldn’t get clean. She stayed where she was, undecided for a moment before Hondo rattled the door again.

_“Do not make me break the door, young one. Come now. It is time to get out.”_

There was no threat in his tone, more of the jovial ‘friend’ he’d always portrayed when dealing with her in the past, but Ahsoka wasn’t fooled. Hondo hadn’t become threatening even when he’d assaulted her; he’d simply done as he felt was needed without and left.

Her body convulsed on the thought, her muscles clenching enough to make her gasp as the organs within her lower body seemed to recoil and, impossibly, withdraw further into the main cavity of her body. As if anticipating further abuse and retreating before engagement to avoid further injury.

Straightening under the water, she uncurled protesting muscles and shifted to a sitting position, looking at the door warily. Would he come in after her? She swallowed hard; after his brutal attack earlier, she wouldn’t put anything past him. She couldn’t afford to underestimate his desire for wealth.

_“Ahsoka.”_

Reaching over, she shut off the taps, shivering in the room despite the cloud of steam that billowed about, making it difficult to see. One hand still clenched around the choker, she carefully pulled herself to her feet and stepped from the shower.

It didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it had when she’d entered. The water had done its work, allowing her to regain control of her body, however long she’d been lying down doing much to ease the sting on her insides.

Belatedly realizing that there were no towels and the only items of clothing were her torn and soiled garments, ones she would rather have burned then resume wearing, she hesitated. She had to wear something, had to give the appearance of being strong; she couldn’t let what he’d done to her break her, right?

Squaring her shoulders, she suppressed a shudder of revulsion as she collected her battle dress and leggings. Taking a moment to brace herself, she controlled her breathing with a meditation exercise she’d once so despised, laid them out on the counter.

Staring at them for a long moment, her gaze went to the door and, without further hesitation, she began to dress.

* * *

Hondo had returned to his quarters expecting to find the young Jedi sleeping off the rigors of his possession and instead had found the door to his ‘fresher locked - how quaint - with no sign of the girl. She couldn’t have been anywhere else, so he’d made his presence known.

What he knew of Togruta, it had likely been unnecessary, but it was the polite thing to do! ?He stayed near the door until he heard the water shut off before moving back into the room. Settling himself in the only chair, he turned it around to place the back to the desk to be able to watch the door, and pulled a datapad from his pocket.

Waiting for the young woman who was about to earn him enough credits to retire on several times over, Hondo refined the agreement that would see her taken off his hands and bring him more spice than he could safely use.

His thoughts wandered as he idly examined the agreement. Atai had been as eager as he’d expected to get his hands on the little Jedi. Whatever their history, Hondo suspected the Zygerrian’s love/hate of the Jedi hadn’t started with this one. No. The young woman would be-

He frowned, finding an error in the contract’s fee dispensation protocols.

Making a correction to the text, he adjusted the figures, adding another set of numbers to the price draft; his discussion with Atai had revealed more than the other man’s simple desire to own the unusual, but a personal stake within his wish to acquire the Jedi quite badly. Hondo felt confident he could charge the Zygerrian to an indecent, near criminal excess and he would gladly pay the price.

The sound of the bolt being thrown several minutes later drew his head up as the door to the ‘fresher unlocked and opened, revealing the terribly pale, but determined looking, Jedi Padawan. She appeared as she ever had except for the choker at her neck, leaving the dress a deep maroon against the ocher of her skin tone.

For all she was attempting to put on a brave front, he could see what it cost her. It was in her eyes more than anything; the way they were wide, still glazed with traces of shock, but resolute.

“I trust you found the ‘fresher to your liking?”

Her chin tilted upwards, her stance almost defiant, determination written in every line of her posture, all but ruined by the way one hand tugged at the hem of her dress, the other clenched tightly at her side. “It was adequate,” she returned, her voice low but steady.

Ah, good; he hadn’t broken her.

A shame he would eventually have to undo all that hard won composure.

Reaching into one pocket of his jacket, he withdrew a small vial, turning his hand and offering it to her, his palm up. “For you, Jedi.”

Ahsoka made no move to close the distance between them and take it. “The only thing I want from you, Hondo, is my freedom.”

“Alas it is the one thing I cannot grant.”

“You could if you wanted; let me go and I’ll find a way to repay you.”

His brows rose, surprised by the bold offer. Folding the vial back into his hand, he leaned forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on his knees and rolled one wrist to encourage her. “Would you now?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath before she spoke. “I would pay you back, every last credit, in  _any_  way -  _except_  this.”

Despite the way her breasts heaved with her dress, Hondo deliberately kept his gaze on hers; giving her a semblance of control would render her more amusing - to him. He had no desire to have her completely cowed. “Would you now, my dear. I am intrigued. Come, come, amuse me! Tell me how you would match the asking price; where  _does_  a Jedi Padawan keep five hundred thousand tons of unrefined spice, hm?”

His words surprise her, shocked her, and she visibly reeled while obviously trying not to appear so. He leaned back in his chair again, watching as she attempted to process the absurdity of his demand.

“So much… so…. ”

“I would never have asked for such a sum,” he told her congenially, “if it were not for my client - who has wished to acquire you for some time and is willing to let me exploit that desire. Tell me, how  _do_  you know Governor Molec?”

“Molec?” Ahsoka shook her head, visibly addled. “I don’t…”

“Atai Molec,” prompted Hondo, his curiosity getting the better of him. “The Zygerrian Gov- Ah, I see you do know him. Excellent!” Deliberately testing the waters, he went on with false nonchalance, watching her carefully. “He is most anxious to be reacquainted with you and…enhance your relationship.”

The reaction to his words was surprising.

Her eyes widened impossibly wider as she took a moment to absorb the statement and his implication. Then her chin tilted upwards as she crossed her arms over her chest, her wide-eyed stare turning into a glare filled with disdain. Her dignity and pride were drawn about her like an invisible cloak, banishing the signs of weaknesses that had crept in while he was gone.

It was almost reassuring to see what the mention of the Zygerrian’s intentions could do.  Gone was the frighten woman-child he’d been forced to initiate and back was the confident Jedi Padawan, the only sign of her unease in the bloodless fist of her left hand.

He wondered idly what it cost her.

“Atai Molec is your  _buyer_  for me?”

“Why yes, is it not reassuring that you will be going to someone you know?”

“Atai Molec got his kicks out of promising to break me and using that kriffing shock collar every chance he could!”

“Tsk tsk, language my dear. Captive or not, I do insist my guests exhibit some form of manners.”

“Atai is wasting his time,” she didn’t rise to the bait, her words still firm and almost grim. “You sell me to him and he’ll be dead inside a week.”

“If he doesn’t break you in that time.” Twirling the near-forgotten vial in his fingers, Hondo made a decision. “Take this.”

Ahsoka’s hand darted out to catch it as he flicked it at her head unexpectedly. “I don’t-”

“Take it, Ahsoka. It will help with the pain.”

* * *

Ahsoka stared at Hondo for a moment, looking down to the vial and then back to the pirate, flabbergasted by the turn of events. Her eyes narrowed, not trusting the gesture. “Why now?”

He shrugged, pushing to his feet, and Ahsoka took a step back, alarm skating down her spine. “If you had cooperated, the experience would not have been as unpleasant or painful.” His lips spread in a charming smile that would never again have the power to charm her, his eyes gleaming with knowledge she couldn’t understand. “I would have made sure you enjoyed it.”

“Never,” she bit back, “I would  _never_  enjoy that.”

“Tsk tsk, never is such a  _long_  time for one so young and passionate.” He took a step towards her.

And Ahsoka retreated. She couldn’t help it. Last time she’d not moved away fast enough and her body was still protesting from the not yet healed injuries that had resulted. “Don’t touch me.”

“I simply wish to assist in its application,” there was false note of injury in his words that, once, would have made her hesitate and now only succeeded in making her suspicious. He must have picked up on it, for he lifted one hand and smiled. “I give you my word.”

“You’ll understand if your word doesn’t hold a lot of weight with me right now,” Ahsoka shot back, taking two steps to each of his, resulting in a slow circle around the room; Hondo giving chase as she backed away. “Don’t come near me.”

“Or what, hm? You will make me pay like last time?” he shook his head. “No no, Ahsoka, you misunderstand my intentions.”

“Your intentions?” she spat the words, continuing to move despite the protests in her lower legs. She would fight him if he touched her again, but injured as she was, she had no illusions that it would be a long one. Nor was she under the illusion she’d win. Hondo held all the cards and despite the fear that ate at her with his proximity, she was relieved to know she could still deal with him.

For now.

“I’ve had a taste of your intentions, Hondo. I won’t go to Atai willingly; nor will I submit to his required conditioning!” Feeling a little more like herself with that declaration, she tossed her head defiantly.

He sighed, shaking his head though he did stop where he was. “That is most unfortunate, my dear. I had hoped you would give me the chance to show you this need not be an unpleasant business.”

“I don’t want you; I don’t want  _this_ ,” she told him clearly, feeling the sharp edges of the diamond pendant digging into her skin, her palm sticky with her own blood. It helped her focus, lent her a strength that Rex’s presence normally did. It had been a gift from the men, the  _man_  who’d been by her side for so long, and it helped immeasurably now. “I ask you again to let me go. Let me go before my Master discovers what you’ve done and the price is your life.”

“Ah, Ahsoka. And here I was starting to think you had come to know me so well.”

She shuddered at the implication but somehow managed not to rise to the bait. “I don’t want you dead, Hondo,” it wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. “My sale surely isn’t worth more to you than your own life!”

The chuckle that crossed Hondo’s lips made her body stiffen with the urge to run; it was a sinister sound, one she didn’t trust more than any other laugh she’d yet heard. “Your Master Skywalker will never know of my involvement in this unpleasant business once you are in the good Governor’s possession, my dear. Once you disappear into the system, the Jedi will never find you. I will be a wealthy man and you… you will learn to enjoy your place - or not.”

“I won’t cooperate. Once I leave this room and regain the use of the Force-”

“Once that happens, the choice is yours, of course,” Hondo agreed, cutting her off with a nonchalant shrug. “Once I have my spice and you are off my ship, I care not what happens to you.”

Staring at him, Ahsoka tried to understand how he could flip flop the way he did. She’d honestly begun to believe the pirate was starting to come around until she’d been captured. Looking at him now, she found she couldn’t fathom just where he was coming from or what drove him. He was completely amoral, driven only by his desire for riches and wealth, and everything else seemed to be… incidental.

“Use the bottle,” he turned, striding towards the door, “It will not do to have you limping coming morning.”

Ahsoka stayed where she was, not willing to try and rush the portal as he unlocked it; she hadn’t the strength to fight off Hondo for long, let alone the rest of his crew. “How?”

“You have used Bacta before, yes?”

She nodded hesitantly, her thumb brushing over the unexpected gift.

He rolled his wrist as if that explained it, stepping out of the room, his tone jovial. “Use it liberally, my dear, for tomorrow we must resume your education.”

The door closed on that blatantly ominous note, leaving Ahsoka trapped, just as before, in what had become her own personal hell.


	3. Chapter 3

Ahsoka didn’t sleep that night.

She spent the night moving, unable to sit still, expecting Hondo to come and claim his room and fulfill his promise. Walking helped to loosen her muscles, though the pull of the activity eventually encouraged her to try some of Hondo’s magic bacta concoction.

Mid-way through the night, she’d caved to the pain and spread it liberally along her bruises and torn flesh. The salve, upon touching broken skin, had also served as a numbing agent and the relief was palpable. So much so, that she managed to spread it liberally and deeply enough to numb the ache in her lower body; the ache that was blessedly silent after the cringing application.

Which left her the rest of the night to wander the room and evaluate her circumstance only to conclude that there was no way out except the door which, as she knew, was operated by a biometric lock; one only Hondo likely had access too. Both a blessing and a curse; it meant only Hondo could unlock the door, either from outside or from within. It meant she was safe from the rest of his crew and only had to worry about  _him_.

Based on her ability to fight him off thus far, Ahsoka was less than reassured by the realization.

To keep herself busy, she began to rearrange the room, pushing everything up against the walls to leave her space to maneuver in the middle. If -  _when -_  Hondo came back, she was going to need every advantage she could get to win.

It didn’t take as long as she would have liked and left her too much time to think; to consider what was to come and how she could avoid it.

Settling herself in the corner furthest from the bed and the door, she put her back squarely to it and drew her knees up to her chest with the barest of winces when one of the injuries she’d not bothered to tend protested. Holding her legs, she put her eyes on the door and waited for morning.

It came far too quickly.

The hum of the lock on the door releasing brought her to her feet and she stepped clear of the small corner with a flinch as her muscles, sore from sitting in the same position for too long, protested. The vial of salve that Hondo had provided, however, had done its work.

Whatever damage he’d done, she no longer felt the physical effects. Allowing herself room to move, she crossed her arms over her chest as the door slid open, taking a defensive stance that, while visibly conveyed her uncertainty of the situation, put her in a position to resist him.

Hondo stepped into the room and stopped, locking the door behind him as he looked about with something akin to mild interest on his face. He took in the changes to his chambers, gaze sweeping around before coming to rest on  _her_  - and  _laughed_.

“Just when I think you Jedi cannot surprise me any further, you do this,” he waved one hand at the side with the bed and the desk, the two nearly blocking the entrance to the ‘fresher. “If I had known it was not to your liking, Ahsoka I would have offered to change the décor myself.”

“The only problem with the décor is that you’re part of it, Hondo.”

“Ah, I do so  _love_  your spirit, my dear.” He chuckled, the ever accommodating host. “Are you hungry? Shall I have breakfast brought in?”

“I told you yesterday, Hondo; the only thing I want from you is my freedom!”

“No?” he acted as if he hadn’t heard her, removing his helmet and goggles as he ran a hand over his head, the ties on his braids clinking together. “Then did you not think to get more comfortable? I am sure there must be something to your taste in my things.”

“I’ll stick with my own clothes,” the thought of pawing through his clothing was distasteful no matter how badly she wanted to be rid of her own. At least they were  _hers_. “You’re not exactly my size.”

“Ah, but mine would be so much easier to remove.” He pulled off his jacket and tossed it aside with his helmet and gloves, making her take a step back. “ Now. Are you ready for your next lesson?”

“Touch me again and I’ll break your fingers.”

“Tsk tsk, no need to get so personal! It is only business!”

“There is  _nothing_ business like in what you did to me last night,” she snapped back, tilting her chin defiantly, bravado masking how her stomach quivered and recoiled from the encounter.

“Ah, but there you are wrong my dear,” there was an eerie echo in his actions from the day before as he undid his shirt cuffs and began to roll them back; it was both menacing and chilling, “you see, this is all business.”

Backing away, she left as much room as she could between herself and Hondo, slipping into a defensive martial arts stance.  _I really will break his fingers_ , she told herself firmly,  _I can fight both Rex and Fives to a standstill, surely I can keep him away from me._  “Your business is vile; leave me out of it!”

“I grow tired of repeating myself, Ahsoka,” Hondo shook his head, as if filled with a regret she knew he didn’t feel. “But I understand this is uncommon for you, so I will make certain allowances. As I have said before, without the crystals, selling you is the only way I will profit. It is regrettable you will not even consider assisting me in making this easier on yourself.”

“If you let me go now, I swear I won’t tell anyone what you’ve done to me.”

“Done to you? You wound me!” he dramatically placed one hand over his heart. “Have you no pity for a man trying to make good credits within the limited means provided him?”

“You’re a bastard.”

“A rich man is never a bastard, my dear,” he continued smugly rolling up his sleeves. “I do so wish you would reconsider. I truly have no desire to hurt you.”

“You really don’t think I’m just going to lie down quietly and let you rape me, do you?”

“Tsk tsk, rape is such a harsh word.” His hands moved to the buttons on his pants.

“If the shoe fits…”

“Ah, but I will  _not_  be wearing your shoes.”

His innuendo was unmistakable. Ahsoka had been anxious before, but what she felt in that room without the Force at her fingertips was beyond any trepidation she’d before experienced. She was doing her best to ignore it, to fight it, but already the barest of shakes had entered her muscles.

She  _knew_  what he could do to her. What he  _would_  do to her again; it was simply a matter of time. And that time, she could see, was running out.

* * *

Hondo observed the young Jedi with an almost detached interest, assessing her physically much as he had the day before, but taking in the changes her introduction to sexual matters had wrought.

When he’d seen her after his return to his quarters the night before, she had been moving slowly, her posture purely defensive; a suffering creature nursing its injuries and determined to avoid further wounding. He’d hoped that would be her attitude and come prepared; if she’d been anything more defiant, he’d have had no qualms about treating her to another lesson. She needed every one she could get before Atai’s arrival.

That, however, had not been the case and fortunately she was moving better this morning. Her feisty, fighting nature appeared to have reasserted itself and he both lamented and approved its resurrection.

Perhaps if he chipped away at it enough, she would come around to his way of thinking and agree to at least  _attempt_  to enjoy what was necessary. He doubted it, but he could dream.

Advancing into the open space she’d so carefully cleared, Hondo idly wondered if he shouldn’t just have her tied down, do what was necessary to ensure she would be ready for Atai, and be done with it. Was it worth this grief, fighting her like this? Having to subdue her?

True, there was something to be said about the chase, but he normally preferred his women to be willing. Slave or not, there was something distasteful about this circumstance that was leaving a foul taste in his mouth.

Ahsoka reacted, going on the offensive as he drew too close, dropping to a crouch and sweeping his feet out from under him. He hit the floor, a jarring blow that kicked his head back even as he rolled with it, his hand snaking out to grab her bare ankle. She kicked at him, stomping down on the wrist without enough force to buy her freedom before she danced out of reach.

Hondo regained his feet, no longer amused. “We both know the outcome of this little game, Ahsoka; I really have no desire to subdue you first.”

“Then leave,” she offered warily, “I won’t come to you willingly.”

“I said I had no desire to subdue you,” he countered, advancing swiftly and reaching for her, his strike blocked and deflected, as expected, as he used the momentum to step inside her reach. “Not that I would not.”

Ahsoka brought her knee up sharply and he deflected it with a twist of his hips as she jumped away and to the side.

They played the game of hit and miss, attack and retreat, for several minutes. Hondo would advance, attempting to grab her and minimize the damage, and Ahsoka would break his hold, dropping him to the ground with trick after dirty trick. Someone had taught her well as she fought Hondo to a standstill.

Realizing she was truly determined to avoid him, Hondo changed tactics.

Foregoing the finesse and subtlety that had failed, he lunged for her bodily, the change in attack catching her off guard as he went careening into her, sending them both to the ground. She broke his fall with a cry, a malleable pillow of giving flesh and firm resistance as a familiar  _oof_  indicated a loss of breath.

Exactly what he’d intended.

He moved swiftly, pulling back as she gasped, and pulled off his belt. She struggled, still fighting him even as he pulled her to her feet and twisted her, knocking her off balance so she fell against the nearby desk. Scrambling, she tried to continue the momentum, to gain a hand hold and move away.

Forced to improvise, he pressed her lengthwise down across the top as she struggled to breathe, and lashed her thighs to the desk supports. A quick figure eight with his belt around both sides and she was stuck, legs spread, face down on the hard surface. It didn’t stop her from reaching back to try and undo the tie and he caught her hands, pressing them down as she wheezed, coughing, and regained partial control over her breathing.

As his chest pressed along her back, Hondo lamented the necessity of laying her face down once more; still, it would serve his purpose.

It would have been far more agreeable if she’d simply have cooperated; he could have enjoyed this encounter immeasurably with such potential as the woman beneath him!

While he’d not dwelled on the day before, he had certainly hoped today would be different. Alas; she seemed determined to fight him to the last, writhing beneath him even now, trying to throw him off and break free of her restraint.

He couldn’t allow it.

Hondo knew the stipulations of the contract Atai would put to him, he'd dealt with him before, and would meet them to the letter. Or rather, number - the number of credits that would be in his possession to be precise! Just thinking of it made him jovial; excited.

“Relax, my dear,” he told her, his cheek pressed against the curve of her lekku, rubbing his groin against the swell of her backside and enjoying the way her muscles flexed and quivered. She was in prime shape for the tasks Atai would set her; few slaves would match the beauty and symmetry of her physical prowess. “This will not take long.”

“Let me  _go_ ,” she pushed off the table, nearly toppling him, and Hondo decided enough was enough. Resistance was admirable, but he could not allow it to continue.

Pinning her with his weight, he reached down, flipping up her skirt and pressed the ridge of his swelling, but not yet erect, cock against the line of her tailbone. Unlike the previous night when she’d gone quiet, the touch of his growing erection seemed to send her into a panic.

“No!” She thrashed violently, bucking her whole body upwards in an attempt to break his hold and taking him to his toes before crashing bodily back to the desk. “ _No!_  Not again; let me go,  _let me go_!”

“Hush, my dear; if you would simply cooperate-”

“Never!”

She wiggled, heaving her body in an attempt to inch forward despite her fetters, dragging him with her and Hondo pulled her back, avoiding the way her knees and feet gyrated, trying to kick him.

“I’m not going to lie here and try to enjoy it!”

“Tsk tsk,” he sighed, a suffering sound, as he levered himself up and, using his full body weight, pinned her in place.

His feet curled about the tops of her thighs around her buttocks, forcing her pelvis into the edge of the desk as his knees braced on either side of her waist. Practically lying in the small of her back, the warm skin of her lekku teased the tip of his cock where it peeped out from his pants as his fingers dug into her wrists, stretching her arms above her head and lying her out flat, fully at his mercy.

She still quivered beneath him but now unable to move. “I really wish you would my dear; it would make this all that much less unpleasant.”

“I don’t want unpleasant,” she turned her face away from his, no doubt to hide the sparkle of moisture he could see on her lashes. “I want you to leave me alone!”

“If only you had something else to offer, Ahsoka,” he lamented. “But. You do not.”

She let out a strangled cry, trembling beneath him as he shifted forward, his legs keeping her pinned as he rubbed the bare top of his mostly covered cock against the sensitive skin of her lekku. He did it again, feeling her body respond beneath his, tensing further and he smile. “Hmm, so it is true that Togruta share the same sensitivity as Twi’lek’s. Perhaps you will enjoy this after all, young one.”

* * *

_“Never.”_

Her denial was fervent and she twisted her head, trying to remove her lekku from his perverted play, the nerve endings in the sensitive skin tingling with the touch. The feel of his flesh against hers was far more confusing than it should have been.

Revolting to her conscious mind, she struggled to be free of it even as the conflicting signals of his touch fired through her  _lek_.

“Hmm, I think never is too long a time. Don’t you?”

“Not long enough - let me go!”

His weight was crushing her, bearing her breasts into the table, the edge cutting painfully into the curve of her hips. He shifted, rubbing against her with deliberate intent and Ahsoka closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the sensation that shouldn’t have felt even remotely good ... but did.

_No,_  she fought against the reaction, against the elicit touch and the way he deliberately played with her  _lek_. His words, his  _actions_  indicated a certain familiarity with Twi’lek’s and, she could feel every micron of his skin as he undulated his hips. To her horror, she felt the fabric of his pants sliding down with each motion, pressing more of his knobby cock against the side of her twitching  _lek_  with each mimed thrust.

_No!_

Ahsoka tossed her head to the side, her only recourse, as whimper stuck in her throat, completely powerless beneath him, her body wound so tightly she thought her muscles would snap.

He didn’t let up and she felt an unfamiliar flush rising on her skin with each stroke of her  _lek_ ; a pleasure that directly contrasted with the rest of her pains and one her physical self couldn’t reconcile anymore than her mind.

“If you’re going to do it,” she finally cried, shifting her head away again as his knobby organ pressed against her once more, her body quivering uncontrollably, “just do it and get it over with!”

“Such an attitude to have,” he admonished, sliding backwards. “Hardly customary. But if that is your wish…”

Ahsoka went as rigid as a plank of wroshyr wood as Hondo did exactly as she’d asked.

The penetration was less painful this time, her body confused by the signals it had been receiving from his teasing of her  _lek_ , and, as a result, mildly aroused. The sensation of fullness hit her first, a gasp escaping her lips as that feeling was followed quickly by the  _stretch_  of muscles that couldn’t cope and then the tearing, the shock of the  _pain_  as her body clenched in denial.

She tasted blood as her teeth sliced into her cheek, the gasp that passed her lips moments later as Hondo released her wrists, but grabbed the  _lek_ at the base of her head and, using both hands, pulled her backwards, the gasp transforming into a ragged cry of denial and unwanted arousal as he ran sure, firm fingers down from root to tip.

Jerking her head forward, she ripped the sensitive appendage from his fingers. “Don’t do that!”

“Oh? But I think you like that,” his hips flexed, drawing his cock from her body before sliding it back in without nearly as much resistance. “I told you it would not be nearly so painful should you let yourself enjoy it, did I not?”

Her body’s natural reaction appalled her,  _betrayed_ her, and tears flooded her eyes she twisted, trying to strike him with arms now free, trying to push him away; to expel him from her body. She was not enjoying this!

“Ha ho! Fight if you must, but it will do you no good.”

Hondo seemed oblivious to her struggles, buoyed by them almost and using them to his advantage, letting out an excited shout as she writhed on the desk with no success. No matter how she moved, he was seated deeply within her, his body joined to hers in a mockery of what she’d once been told was the greatest expression of feeling between a man and a woman.

It was  _nothing_  like she’d been led to believe.

“You cannot escape, my dear,” he informed her

Her body was turning in on itself, the mental anguish countering the physical pleasure as her temporary reaction to his play with her  _lek_  faded, the pain of his possession once again building and, to her horror, he began to speak, as is trying to  _coach_  her in her response.

“Now, when you move forward, do be certain you always push back, no man likes to do all the work.” He laughed as she cringed, curling her hands about the lip of the desk as he pinned them there, his breath feathering across her cheek. “Occasionally perhaps, but not all the time and your new Master will insist on you doing your part!”

Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka squeezed her eyes shut and blocked out his words with a mantra of her own even has her body was rocked violently back and forth.

_I am not here._

_I am not on this ship._

_I am-_

Hondo’s voice cut into her thoughts.  “And sometimes, he will not wish to use you as you are intended; he will wish to explore other… possibilities.”

A searing agony of her anal tissue splitting made her shriek before she could gasp it back or deny the pain; deny the indecency of what he was doing as her body surged forward, locking up with vice-like strength. He was as business like and brutal as he’d been with her the day before, inch by agonizing knobby inch pressed, withdrew and surged forward with deliberate intent.

Breaking her in to fulfill his ‘contract’.

Focusing on her thoughts, her breath whistling through gritted teeth while Hondo pressed her down into the table and forcefully ‘educated’ her, his voice lost to the chant within her head, her eyes glazed with tears, unable to do more than hold on as her body was used to his satisfaction.

_This is not me._

_This is not my body._

_I am not here._

Hondo’s cry was lost within her last thought, her mind aware of the rigidity of her body somewhere on the edges, but having distanced itself from the pain.

_I am not here._

 


	4. Chapter 4

“No!”

Ahsoka turned her face away, jerking it to the side as Hondo unzipped his pants and opened them wide to expose his partial erection, the organ slapping obscenely against her cheek where it would have hit her lips.

“No?” Hondo sighed. “Come come, my dear; have we not been through this? You will simply lose again. Is it not easier simply submit and endure to, how have you put it... get this over with?”

“Get that  _thing_ away from my face,” she bared her sharp teeth at him, a daring, threatening gesture, pinned as she was and unable to move.

Hondo sat straight, his knees holding her arms down as he practically sat on her chest, his hands free to do with as he pleased.  And he pleased, she observed with a kind of resigned disgust, to play with himself. His fingers moved with familiarity and skill over his own flesh, rapidly growing hard before her eyes and Ahsoka squeezed them shut.

“Atai will require you service him this way, Ahsoka,” Hondo’s voice was stern but held a conciliatory note, “Is it not better you learn the skills you will require before being beaten for your ignorance?”

The bulbous head of his cock slid against her cheek and she jerked her head to push it away. “Try it and I’ll bite it off.”

“Tsk tsk; such violence. There is no need for such threats.”

There were  _always_  need for such threats. Ahsoka had learned over the last three days as Hondo’s prisoner that nothing came without a price. If she wanted something or dared to ask for it, Hondo had turned it around on her to demand a  _willing_ sexual favor in return.

As a result, she had eaten very little, was exceedingly sore, and her lower body felt swollen and heavy from the amount of use Hondo had imposed upon her. While Atai wanted her ‘gently used’, as Hondo had put it, the pirate claimed he had no desire to see her suffer unnecessarily in the slaver’s hands.

Hondo had taken her education seriously. Both a firm and insistent instructor, he had abused the most intimate parts of her body repeatedly over the last few days but he’d only inflicted damage to the rest of her only as necessary. His solution, he’d informed her when she’d accused him of it, was to ensure her body was capable of withstanding the rigors of sex and not just the demands of the body, but the positions and terms and mechanics.

_All_  of them.

Instead of going meekly along as Hondo had suggested and pressured, which would have been completely against her fighting spirit, Ahsoka had attempted to stave off the attacks for as long as possible each time. She fought him, as hard as she could, running when she had the space, and clawing with tooth and nail when she didn’t. Her threat to bite him was not an idle one; he’d already felt the sting of her teeth the last time he’d attempted this.

“Then try it and see,” she snapped.

“Such spirit! Four days and you are still the most stubborn of women; my profit margin will be magnificent!”

“Kriff your profit margin; get off me!”

“Ah ah,” he pumped his length with one fist, tilting it down towards her lips again, wagging a finger of his free hand in a chiding motion. “I get off and you get me off you. It is a fair trade; you see my dear, commerce has a place in everything.”

Ahsoka nearly gagged with the condition and thrashed her lower limbs again. Hondo had hobbled her to the desk to prevent her being able to kick him in the back. A smart move on his part and one that served to enhance her despair. She’d been used by Hondo, but fortunately - on a ship full of pirates -  _only_  Hondo, in more positions than she could count. Her body was like one swollen, overtaxed muscle…

And he never stopped.

She’d not slept for longer than five or ten minutes, having learned her lessons the second night on the ship. After being left unmolested that first night, she’d assumed it would be so until Hondo could get her off his ship into Atai’s hands.

That had not been the case.

In what Hondo had called applied conditioning, he’d found her sleeping and, before she’d come to wakefulness, claimed her body with a grim admonishment that she could not afford to let her guard down. It had been painful, humiliating and debasing, the only time he’d been able to take her face to face.

She’d heeded that piece of advice since.

It had been the only time he’d gained easy access to her body and, she’d vowed, it would be the last. And while her resistance was always violent and horribly brief with Hondo’s greater experience and deviousness winning out over her skills, the time they fought was time when he wasn’t pumping away at her like a droid piston.

“I simply wish to prepare you for what you will experience. I take no joy in your suffering.”

She found that hard to believe as he tapped the head of his turgid length against the corner of her mouth.

“Now, make this easy on yourself, hm?”

“Try it,” she gritted out, repeating her challenge, “try it and see.”

“No no no; your new Master-”

“He’s  _not_  my Master!

“Ah, perhaps not yet, but he will be,” Hondo’s shrug was insouciance in itself. “Semantics, my dear; bite me and I will merely knock your head back. Bite him... and he will knock your teeth  _in_.”

There had been many warnings, both seriously and playfully delivered, of its type, but Ahsoka knew to heed them.

Her time as a Zygerrian captive while searching for the Kiros colonists had revealed Atai’s lust for power and control, his perverse delight in torturing her with whatever had been within his means a lesson she’d not soon forget. That Hondo was brokering a deal with the alien bad enough, but when -  _if -_ Atai got his hands on her, her treatment at his hands would be far, far worse than at Hondo’s.

The pirate was clearly the lesser of two evils; he was simply doing what was necessary to her to ensure a profit.

While logical on some level, Ahsoka couldn’t separate the whys from the whats of his actions; Hondo had become her personal demon. Polite to a fault, he was relentless, exhibiting a determination and single-minded focus on his acquisition of profit to the point of not taking a stake in her physical well being.

Hondo was doing a job and ensured she knew it.

She shuddered as he ran the skin of his bumpy, uneven sex along the edge of her face but remained firm. She would  _not_  take that engorged organ in her mouth willingly and, if he tried to force the issue, she was going to bite him.  _Hard_.

He finally sighed. “Well, if you will not cooperate here, I will simply-” The chirping of his comm. cut him off and he frowned, flicking on the audio only while maintaining his seat, his tumescent length still against her cheek. “This had best be important.”

Seeing the comm. activated, Ahsoka thrashed, pushing up with all her might trying to dislodge him. If she could get that comm. – if she could tap into the ship’s communication system, she could send a message, tell someone where she was. The equivalent of human adrenaline raced through her veins and she gathered herself to push him off, visualizing how it needed to happen.

Once she had the comm., she wouldn’t have long, seconds maybe, to send her message, she-

Hondo’s irritation, such an uncommon sound to her, penetrated her plans. “Here? Already? My my, he certainly wasted no time. Very well; allow him to dock.”

_“Capt’n; he says he wants to see his purchase before beginning negotiations.”_

Her blood froze, a part of her mind already having registered that Hondo was flaccid once more and no longer a threat, even as she stared wide eyed at his arm.  _He wants to see his purchase._  The words heralded an end to her abuse at Hondo’s hands, but the start of something much worse.

“Very well; once he is aboard, show him to my office.” He reached his free hand down to trace the upper curve of her Montrals, “I will meet with him once his purchase is ready.”

Ahsoka gasped as Hondo pushed to his feet, blood rushing back into arms that had been semi-numbed by his weight and scrambled backwards, away from him as far as the tether around her feet would allow. Hondo didn’t seem to pay her any mind as she reached the end of it. She bent to untie it and threw it away before moving back even further; until her back hit the wall. It was only then she took a moment to rub her arms as she watched Hondo speak into the comm.

There was a brief moment of discussion she didn’t even try to hear before he deactivated it and turned her way. “Well, it would seem the time for your education is at an end, my dear.”

He didn’t sound happy or sad, just resigned, and Ahsoka watched him warily, not trusting this for the truth.  _Every_  time he’d lulled her into a false sense of security, he’d pounced. She’d learned more about caution and awareness than she’d ever cared to in the last few days. Still, she couldn’t resist one last, desperate try to get him to rethink what he was about to do.

“Don’t do this, Hondo; please.”

“Why not - have you thought of someone else who will meet my price?”

“Everyone I know who might have the resources is someone you won’t consider or flat out refuse to deal with,” she accused. “If you really didn’t want to see me in this situation, you’d look for a different buyer than Atai.”

“Ah, but will you be more willing if I told you that I was going to sell you to a Hutt? Or, perhaps, to a traveling troupe? I think not.”

“I’d be more willing if you were going to sell me to someone whose only intention wasn’t to rape me!”

“Someone you could use your Jedi mind tricks on, no doubt,” he sighed, shaking his head. “No, my dear; it is only Atai who will pay the asking price and now, you must be ready to meet him.”

She pushed to her feet, using the wall for support as he took a step towards her, holding one hand out to ward him off in a gesture that was useless without the Force behind it. “I won’t let you sell me to Atai Molec, Hondo.”

“I am afraid you have very little choice, Ahsoka. For what it’s worth, I would be willing to rescue you - for a price.”

His avaricious comment didn’t surprise her as much as it should have; Hondo had ensured that she knew his position on just why he was selling her. Nothing personal. Just business. The same reasons that, once Ataic Molec took her from the ship, if he were contacted by someone to rescue her, he would.

For a price.

“I had so hoped not to put you in chains,” he confided with a single shake of his head as he placed his hands on his hips, considering her. “Perhaps if you gave me your word, yes?”

She glared at him. “You’re taking me to a meeting with a man who is going to use me for his personal pleasure slave and you expect me to  _cooperate_?”

“I do so hate to resort to this, my dear, but if you will not guarantee your good behavior, I see you leave me no choice.”

He advanced, pulling a length of synth rope from one of the pockets on his belt along with a pair of binders and a collar that he unfolded with practiced movements. Ahsoka started at him for a heartbeat, realizing that his threat was not an idle one and she was about to be  _confined_ , dragged like a pet before Atai for him to ogle her.

The stirrings of panic hit first and she kicked out without thinking, crying out as her legs and body protested the movement, her foot connecting with Hondo’s hand.

* * *

A pair of binders went flying as Ahsoka’s leg snapped up, but Hondo deliberately let them go, twisting his wrist and locking his fingers around her ankle. Light on his feet, Hondo stepped close, within the arc of her kick, slipping the heel of his foot behind hers and knocking her off balance.

She fell heavily, down and back, the back of her head impacting with the wall and she went slack.

Moving quickly, he checked to make sure she was out before taking a knee beside her sprawled form. Knowing she’d never cooperate, Hondo adjusted her clothing. He’d not removed it, honestly he’d left it to her deliberately to give her some kind of familiarity. He hoped it was part of the reason she was still so... feisty.

Slipping the binder on one wrist, he pulled a spare from his belt and bound the other before clipping the collar around her neck. He’d had to find one that was thin, but strong, and designed for Togruta; her lekku didn’t allow for the standard sizes.

After several days of her fighting him, his relief that she was about to be taken off his hands was palpable. Not enough to offer Atai a discount, but enough that a part of him truly wished he could offer her to another buyer.

But no other buyer would want her the way Atai did; it was simply good business.

Hooking the synthrope to the loop on the collar, he then pulled two fine lengths of chain from his belt pouch and hooked them to the manacles. He’d thought, initially, to display her to Atai in the forcefield that was so effective at holding Jedi, but knew, with the slaver’s early arrival, that  _looking_  would not be enough. He’d want to  _touch_.

Hefting the young Jedi in his arms and over his shoulder, Hondo secured her feet with the synthrope as a precaution before moving heading for the door. He had a prospective buyer to meet, a Jedi to sell and a fortune to secure.

All in all, it should be a most productive day.

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly.

A murmur of voices was somewhere nearby but no words coalesced within her mind. Her head ached from the fall, but as she tried to lift one hand to rub the throbbing spot, the soft jangle of a chain and the immediate arresting of movement made her eyes snap open.

A quick looked revealed her circumstances hadn’t improved.

Arms stretched wide enough that her shoulders ached, the small, thin chains holding her spread arms not looking strong enough to take her weight but were. They clinked together as she shifted, planting feet that had been slack and taking the weight off the pull in her shoulders.

She tensed, remembering what had been happening when she’d been knocked unconscious; had Hondo already-

“-and a fortune in spice is  _all_  you require?”

Atai’s voice penetrated her skull, drawing her gaze around to the side to where he and Hondo were seated at a table, sharing drinks, with the Zygerrian Slaver. Neither man was paying her much mind, but then, Hondo had seated himself to be facing where Ahsoka was chained and the Zygerrian had his back to her.  

Her movements must have drawn the pirate’s attention for, as Hondo raised his glass, his eyes flicked to hers, meeting for a breath before dropping back to Atai, his tone amused and confident. “Is there anything else?”

“For a man such as you, probably not,” Atai agreed and Ahsoka could catch the glimpse of his cup being raised from her position in honor of the toast. His words were anticipatory and sent a shudder of revulsion down her spine. “When can we arrange the transfer?”

“You have brought five hundred thousand tons of spice with you?”

“I have brought four hundred thousand tons,” the correction was smug even to Ahsoka’s way of thinking, “I suspected you would set an exorbitantly high price for her. It pays to come prepared.”

“I am impressed - and a little disappointed to have been so predictable!”

“A Jedi is almost as priceless as their weapons; to have one in captivity is a lure even I cannot resist,” the sadistic anticipation in Atai’s tone was chilling, “I look forward to  _breaking_  her.”

“I think you will have your work cut out for you, my friend. This one is not so easily broken.”

Ahsoka had no time to appreciate the backhanded compliment as Hondo waved Atai’s attention her way and the Zygerrian turned, his cruel expression drawing her up as far as she could, tilting her chin with visible defiance as she glared right back at him.

There was no mercy, no softness in Atai’s gaze; nothing that boded well for her future. Nothing that indicated his treatment of her would be as clinical as Hondo’s.

Rising to his feet, Atai approached her, his gaze sliding deliberately away from her face to rake down her body. Without following his gaze, Ahsoka knew what she would see.

Her battle dress was torn, the collar long since having been ripped, the top gaping a little in the gap over her breasts. It still clung to her curves down to the rent over one hip and down to the hem of the skirt. Exposing the sienna hue of her skin through the tear, it revealed the unbroken line of her bare leg from waist to foot. Her leggings were gone along with her boots and Atai’s gaze lingered on her bare flesh.

Bare flesh that bore the imprints of Hondo’s grip and gave testament to his fulfillment of his side of the bargain.

“I’d say it’s a pleasure to see you, Governor,” she went straight on the attack, her words deliberately pitched in a threatening tone, unwilling to let him shame her with a look, “but you’ll understand why I’m not after our last meeting.”

“The pleasure, little skug, will be all mine.” His words held a threat and intent as one of his hands dropped to his crotch and drew Ahsoka’s attention to the fact that he was already straining against the fabric of his trousers. He smiled, casting his next words back over his shoulder. “She is as you promised, Hondo.”

“What good is a pirate’s word if he cannot be trusted to deliver the goods in the condition requested, hmm?”

“Unprofitable,” Ahsoka quipped, making Hondo laugh and Atai’s face darken. Good; she didn’t want him thinking her cowed. Her body rebelled, clenching at the idea of the slaver’s  _pleasures_. With steely determination, she remained focused on the here and now, knowing if she dwelt on what Atai had in store for her, panic would set in and her fate would be decided without her. She couldn’t afford to become Atai’s prisoner and had to talk Hondo out of selling her. Somehow. “Four hundred thousand tons is hardly a fair deal.”

“No slave is worth that much; even a Jedi slave,” Atai contradicted. “Not even you, little skug.”

“Then you shouldn’t pay his asking price,” she countered evenly, willing to take whatever avenues necessary to escape the fate she saw in his eyes, “you should bargain for me. Offer to pay him what you think I’m worth.”

Behind them, Hondo chuckled and lifted his glass again.

Atai stared at her, continuing to fondle himself and licked his lips, a feral smile crossing his face, his voice dropping to a private tone that Hondo likely wouldn’t hear. “And chance that he take you away to sell you elsewhere, Jedi?  _Never._ You. Are.  _Mine_.”

“I will  _never_  be yours,” she countered just as quietly. “No matter what you do to me.”

“Broken  _in_  but not broken; magnificent.” He’d raised his voice, anticipation in every line of his body. “And looking out for your financial interests it would seem?”

“Hardly,” scoffed the pirate, staying where he was as Atai . “She simply seems to like me better than you.”

Which, considering the circumstances, wasn’t exactly untrue. If Ahsoka’d had the choice between staying with Hondo and going with Atai, she would have chosen Hondo in a heartbeat despite his mistreatment of her. At least with Hondo she’d have had the chance to eventually  _purchase_  her freedom.

“All the better,” Atai stepped forward and Ahsoka straightened even further within her bonds, unwilling to let him see the unease that was slithering down her spine. “The Jedi will learn her place, won’t you, little skug?”

She jerked her face away as he made to touch her. “The second we’re off this ship, you’re going to wish you’d never met me.”

“I hardly doubt that,” he returned, leaning in to speak with just her again, so close that the whiskers on his chin teased her cheek, “I look forward to having you beneath me, screaming, Jedi.”

She said nothing, knowing an admission would be a victory for him and glared with all the contempt she could muster instead. Atai lifted his free hand, his eyes narrowing, watching her as he moved it towards her chest. Ahsoka gritted her teeth, knowing she was caught, already as far back as the restraints would allow, and braced herself for-

“Ah ah, Governor, no touching the merchandise until a price has been set and a deal sealed.”

Ahsoka wondered at her sanity when she found herself silently thanking Hondo for the save, an irrational laugh sticking in her throat.

Atai dropped his hand and stepped back. “Are you agreeable to the trade, Captain Ohnaka?”

“Very agreeable, Governor Molec. Come; let us drink to another successful negotiation! And once I have my spice,  _you_  will have the Jedi!”

Atai returned to the table to do just that and Ahsoka’s heart plummeted to the soles of her feet. Hondo was going through with selling her to Atai.

Inhaling deeply, she sought the core of herself that Hondo had been unable to touch; the determination that had kept her fighting him - kept her sane. Her darkest hour was about to start and she would need every one of her abilities and tricks to escape the fate Atai planned for her.

As the thought occurred, another came to the forefront.

The Zygerrians hadn’t the Force dampening abilities that Hondo possessed; as soon as she was off this ship and she broke free of the shock collar Atai would undoubtedly fit her with again, she was as good as free.

She simply had to bide her time.

* * *

Hondo and Atai left Ahsoka where she was, chained in his office, the pirate Captain confident he wasn’t in any danger of losing the young woman who was about to make him unbelievably rich.

“My cargo ship carrying the spice,” Atai was saying, “will dock the moment you allow it.”

Hondo pressed a button on his wrist to give the signal to his people on the bridge that the Zygerrian cargo ship in the system was to be allowed to dock.

“The guards are there for safety, but the transfer of cargo will take some time.”

“Ah yes; the spice. I would see random samplings; good business, you know.”

“Of course,” Atai assured him. “I want the Jedi, Hondo; as soon as you’ve verified the purity of my payment.”

“You are hardly hiding that fact, my friend.” Hondo returned dryly. Atai’s physical reaction to Ahsoka’s bound state had been… immediate and unmistakable, though Hondo had tactfully ignored it. He didn’t enjoy binding the Jedi, but who was he to judge the preferences of others?

“I have dreamed of this day, Hondo,” was the sudden confession, the Zygerrian’s smile hard and pleased. “Of the day I would get my hands on that little skug again. To  _break_  her and make her  _beg_.”

“I think you will have a long wait, my friend. She is as resilient as she is exquisite.”

“Then I will enjoy the breaking process, no matter how long it takes.”

In that moment, Hondo almost pitied Ahsoka - until they entered his cargo bay to find that the crates had already begun being unloaded, one waiting for him with the lid off and the glitter of his favorite currency winking back at him.

Keeping his steps deliberately nonchalant instead of eager, he made his way over to the crate. Making a show of it, he stopped short to observe his crew as they unloaded crate after crate of the precious substance.

The image of taking a spice bath popped into his head and he chuckled, shaking it away; he  _could_  but he’d never waste it in such a fashion. There was enough here to keep him well heeled for several lifetimes!

Or one, the way he spent and drank.

With this, he could die a very happy Weequay, drowning in spice-laced ale and willing bed partners.

The last thought brought him back to reality and he finally stepped up to the crate, dipping his fingers into the coarse dirt and rock; there was a reason he asked for so much when it came unrefined and not just because his counter barter was a Jedi.

Lifting one rock, he rubbed his thumb across it and touched his thumb to his tongue. The pure  _pleasure_  sensation that accompanied the tingling sensation of his lips going numb assured him that it wasn’t only the right kind of spice, but  _quality_.

“Hmm, yes. Yes, very nice.” One underworld conglomerate mogul to another, Hondo shot the Zygerrian a look and arched an eye ridge. “Is it all glitterstim?”

“A mixture,” Atai assured him, “about a quarter is glitterstim; another quarter is ryl. The other half are a mixture of assorted, easier to refine and dispense spices. Less illegal within the Republic.”

“Ha!” It meant his price for Ahsoka had dropped some, but this much illegal spice would pay for itself if rationed and sold properly once refined. And the Weequay under his command were particularly good at the refining process.

“You wouldn’t want to flood the market with ryl or glitterstim and depress the prices, now would you?”

The Zygerrian was too slick by half but Hondo replaced the rock without commenting. If the rest of the spices were of comparable quality, his trade would prove to be worth it. “I wish to see ryl.” He grabbed one of the dock hands and pushed him towards where the crates were being stacked. “Find me ryl!”

“Aye, Capt’n.”

Hondo turned back to Atai who was expecting his response. “Once the payment is aboard my ship,” the response was thoughtful; the full transfer would take well over a day, “you can have the Jedi.”

“Too long,” the Zygerrian protested. “I would have her when half is transported!”

“Ah ah, my friend; payment before goods - anything less is bad for business!”

“A compromise then,” Atai suggested, looking to the crates of spice and then back to Hondo, an almost fanatically intense look in his eyes. “I will remain here while the spice is loaded, as your guest.”

“And?”

“Once half of the payment is on your ship, you will release the Jedi to my keeping. I will not leave your ship until the payment is fully in your cargo hold.”

Hondo considered Atai for a moment before grinning, throwing his arms in the air and sealing Ahsoka’s fate once and for all. “Done! Let us celebrate!”


	5. Chapter 5

The spatial receptors in her montrals indicated the pressure change moments before the sound of the door opening reached her.

“Well my dear, it would seem our time together is at an end,” Ahsoka couldn’t see him as he entered the room, the door was somewhere behind her, but Hondo announced himself with the commiserating comment. “Your new Master-”

“He’ll  _never_  be my Master!”

“Ah, but there you are wrong,” Hondo told her with a smile as he came around to face her head on, just far enough away that the give in her bonds wouldn’t allow her to reach him. “You see, the deal is done and you now belong to Atai Molec.”

“Before you receive your payment?” Ahsoka tossed her head and shot him a condescending look. “Hardly.”

“Ah, but you see, we have come to an agreement.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. “Other than selling me?”

“Governor Molec will continue to be my guest as his cargo is unloaded,” as he spoke, Hondo stepped away, to his desk to collect the glass he’d abandoned before, turning to face her as he took a sip. Something about his look, his posture, sent off a set of warning bells in her still mussed mind. “He will remain until it is completed.”

“Why?”

“Call me a generous host!” Hondo chuckled but it died swiftly. “Perhaps I wish to impress him with my hospitality.”

“Good for him; I hope he chokes on it.”

“ _Ah_ soka,” he tsked, drawing her name out with a shake of his head. “Is that any way to speak of the man who will be sharing your bed tonight?”

“My -  _what_?”

“Atai has purchased you, as agreed,” there was surprisingly no inflection in his statement, “and made me a very rich man.”

“I’m  _so_ happy for you,” her reply was dry before turning hard. “Atai will  _not_ be sharing my bed!”

“Hmm, true; you will be gracing his,” the insouciant shrug of the pirate captain wasn’t echoed in his rather lackluster gaze. “Once I have half of my payment, you are to be turned over to his… care.”

“A little late for second thoughts, isn’t it, Hondo?”

“I see you, my dear. Thinking. Plotting. Planning. When you are off my ship, you will escape Atai, yes?” He held up one finger on the glass before upending it, wiping his lips with the back of his other hand before continuing. “ _When_  you are off my ship. You will be in his possession before that.”

Ahsoka felt herself pale as she realized exactly  _what_  Hondo was saying. Here, on his ship, she couldn’t use the Force. Atai would have the same advantages over her that Hondo did and, being a military man, it was likely only a matter of time when she fought to keep him at bay before she lost. And lose she would; even if she won, it would only be a temporary reprieve before Atai either drugged, whipped or shocked her into submission.

“It was not my intention, my dear, and for that I  _am_  sorry.”

Laughter bubbled out of her before she could stop it, the sound slightly hysteric. “Sorry? You’re  _sorry_?! Now? After... after...” she couldn’t finish as the words stuck painfully in her throat, tugging on her chains, trying to get to him. At that moment, if she’d been free, she wasn’t sure if she would have throttled Hondo or something worse.

Whatever she’d have done, it was a very un-Jedi-like impulse.

“Ah. Well.” Hondo upended the glass, wiping his lips with the back of his other hand before continuing. “What’s done is done and cannot be changed.”

He placed the glass down on the desk and started to move, walking around her to get to the door and Ahsoka turned her head, alarmed. “Hondo? Hondo, you can’t just going to leave me here like this!”

“You are no longer mine to concern myself with, my dear,” he returned with a flick of the wrist as he continued away, not looking back. “Good luck, Ahsoka.”

“Hondo?” He passed out of her view, the sound of his footsteps echoing back to her. “Hondo!  _Hondo_!”

The door closed on her last call, leaving her alone once again, her wrists raw from the binders where they’d rubbed against her skin as she struggled to break free. The chains jangled in a kind of musical discord as her efforts once again proved fruitless.

A strange smell hit her moments later and she began to cough, her body curling on itself, as a gas was released into the chamber.

_No!_

The thought was despairing; frantic. She had to be conscious, to have her wits about her; she had to be capable of fighting off Atai!

No matter her determination, it was useless.

Within moments, despite her efforts, her eyelids grew heavy.

Fluttered.

Snapped open in a single, desperate bid at remaining that way and then closed, her body sagging against the restraints as she slipped into a drug induced slumber

* * *

“You’re certain the shock collar is unnecessary?”

“The Capt’n says you shouldn’t need it.”

“If this costs me my prize…”

“She’s trapped on the ship and chained to the bed, Govn’r; she ain’t going anywhere.”

The wheezy voice of a Weequay somewhere nearby, speaking with an irritated, yet anticipatory gruff voice, floated about her head, the prevalent sensation of ringing in her monstrals, a dull  _thud_  resounding through the deck plating and into the softness under her head; a sensation she couldn’t reconcile with the disjointed feeling within her own body.

_How long was I-?_

“And you’ve confirmation the cargo is mostly transferred?”

“Exactly half; Capt’n says that’s why you get the girl.”

“Excellent; get out.”

There was the sound of a door opening and then closing and Ahsoka tried to push her head off where it lay only to find it felt too heavy for her neck. Her limbs felt heavy when she tried to move them, her arms unresponsive as she lay there, another distant  _thud_ reverberating through her nerve endings.

“Alone at last, Jedi.”

The voice sent a shiver down her spine, panic already having started to settle about her heart and constricting her chest as she realized she was paralyzed and couldn’t move. Unlike before, when she’d been alone with Hondo and able to defend herself, here and now she was unable to do more than blink.

Her throat closed and her eyes burned with unshed tears as she was beaten before she’d even begun to fight.  _Not fair_ , she wanted to scream, unable to make her voice work, a prisoner in her own body.  _This isn’t what he said he wanted; this isn’t…_

Atai had changed the rules.

Strong hands, cruel and purposeful, reached down to turn her, her head being angled so she could see the smug satisfaction on the Zygerrian’s face. “How’s it feel, little skug?” It wasn’t really a question and she couldn’t have answered if she’d tried. “You’re a little overdressed.”

The tearing of fabric pinched her skin as his claws hooked into the fabric from the underside, close to her skin, and began to pull downwards, using the angle of his sharp nails to shred the fabric.

Warm air slid across her skin, but she shivered involuntarily, a reflex to the sensation and Atai’s eyes gleamed as he reached the curve of her bodice. With a jerk, he split the fabric one way, reset his hand, and then slashed the dress open the other.

Her breasts, to Atai’s obvious displeasure, didn’t spill free and remained stubbornly behind the remnants of her dress. Atai growled as he tore the strips loose, his claws grazing her skin. Ahsoka felt the bite, the pain, her mind rebelling against the attack on her person, horrified it had come to this.

Within moments, the upper half of her dress was gone, leaving her bare and nude to the waist, exposed to his covetous gaze. He stepped back, far enough she saw the bulge in his pants hadn’t lessened from when she’d last seen it and a sick feeling settled over her.

She knew what came next; Hondo had ensured it.

Bitterness and disbelief warred with one another as Atai stripped, shedding his clothing, the organ that would impale her swelling with each move. Unlike Hondo, who had simply been doing a job, Atai looked  _eager_  to begin.

She closed her eyes on the sight, unable to watch. In the back of her mind, she registered another distant  _thud_ reverberating through her nerve endings, though it was lost to the immediate present.

He touched her first, his hands rough, his claws leaving blatantly possessive red marks over her breasts and backside, both deeper than those on the rest of her exposed flesh. He didn’t remove her skirt, for reasons she couldn’t fathom, simply let his hands trail down and around it, exploring with demeaning efficiency the areas he wanted.

His hand slid between her legs, gripping her thigh, his wrist pressed against the most intimate part of her. There was a brush of fur, the sweep of satin against skin as he bent down, bit her –

And lifted his head, frowning.

“Where is the warrior goddess who has always defiantly fought me?” He demanded, giving her an angry shake. “Where is the fire from the negotiation room? Are you simply going to lie there and…oh.” Atai began to chuckle and she looked at him through narrowed, unfocused eyes. “You are still drugged. No matter.”

He let her fall back to the bed momentarily, going to his discarded clothing, his engorged, swollen cock swaying and bouncing obscenely as he moved and her eyes shut once more on the sight.

Then she was moving, her head and arms falling back, one furry arm sliding around her waist and pulling her upright. Her front was pressed against his, his erection digging into the soft, toned flesh of her stomach, the bite of a hypo digging into her arm.

Her head lolled to the side, her eyes snapped open to his.

Atai smiled, a devious kind of feral smile that was uniquely his. Rubbing against her deliberately, he pressed the turgid length of his blatant arousal against her lower body. “The counter agent is swift, little skug but not for your benefit; mine. So I can enjoy you at  _my_  leisure;  _not_  yours,” his hand closed about one of her breasts and squeezed none too gently before his lips followed.

Ahsoka gasped as reality returned, pain blossoming in her breast, the still heavy feeling of being Force blocked now overridden with the sting of shock. Her conscious mind protested the assault, a tingling sensation in her fingers heralding the slow return of partial mobility. Her arms twitched, a muscle spasm drawing one up, but without weight or purpose.

One of the sharp edges of Atai’s teeth brushed her skin and a whimper of sound passed her lips, dread and desperation surging together as she felt the paralytic effect begin to lift. Would she get full mobility back in time to stop him? Could she? He was strong, more violent than Hondo and she hadn’t the advantage of-

The dull, screaming sound of an alarm claxon began to sound from somewhere outside the room, drawing Atai’s head up, irritation in every line of his expression. There was a brief knock on the door and then it slid open.

“Governor Molec-”

“Get out!”

Ahsoka’s head flopped to the side as he turned partially, the red emergency lights visible behind the startled Weequay in the door. She concentrated on forming a fist as Atai addressed the pirate.

“But, sir, my orders-”

“Are not to interrupt me! Get out before I see you whipped!”

The pirate waited for a moment before shrugging. “Someone’ll be by to get you when it’s over then.” With that cryptic remark, the Weequay departed, engaging the security system on his way out, effectively locking them in.

The whirring sound was almost trigger like in its effect on her as she began to weakly struggle, trying to find the strength to break Atai’s grip. He bared his teeth at her as she managed to get her arms between them, feeling stronger by the second but still unable to lever him away.

“I see your strength is returning. Good; I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

“L- let me go,” the words came out thick, her tongue feeling about three sizes too big for her mouth.

A crow of delight came from Atai. “Slaves don’t speak to their masters that way, skug,” he squeezed her breast again, the tips of his nails digging into the sensitive flesh.

It was enough to sting, but not hurt.

Held upright by Atai’s grip, Ahsoka’s legs shifts and twitched, trying to get them under her but her efforts backfired as Atai kept his grip on her breast and then reached down to collect one leg. Lifting it, he set his furry, slightly barbed shaft against her entrance. His eyes glittered as she pushed at him with increasing fervor, the strength in her protests seeming to please him.

_Too close!_  Her mind was frenzied, frantic.  _Too close._  “Get away from me,” her words came out more of a plea than a demand. “ _Stop_!”

“Stop?” he bent, squeezing her breast, baring his teeth and running them along her jaw. “I think I’m going to take you right here, just like this, Jedi; scream for me.”

Atai’s teeth sank into the soft skin of her neck.

The pain was intense and immediate as his fangs pierced her skin, her body’s natural defenses kicking in to purge the last of the drug’s lingering effects as a raw, agonized scream shattered the silence of the room, drowning out the sound of running feet and blaster fire on the other side of the door.

Clawing at his face, his hands, kicking to get away, her body undulated, barely avoiding the thrust of his hips and being impaled on his monstrous organ. His head reared back as he deflected her attack angrily, blood on his lips, manhandling her roughly  to keep his hold before tripping her backwards.

“You will learn your place, little skug!”

They landed on the bed, a muffled voice and a pounding on the door lost to the scuffle as Ahsoka tried to break free of his grip. She bit, kicked, pummeling him with hands and fist. “I’ll see you dead before you have me!” she caught him in the arm, hearing a  _cracking_  sound and scrambled to back away as his grip slacked for an instant.

Atai’s fist caught her in the side of the head, knocking her sideways to fall in a heap, stars exploding behind her eyes. It stunned her, her sight dimming as it nearly drove her into unconsciousness

The Zygerrian slaver took full advantage. He threw her to her back, following her down and prying her legs open with both hands.

Her instincts made her react automatically, weakly attempting to push him away, screaming with denial inside her head.  _This isn’t happening! Not again; please no! Not again; not again!_

A prisoner within her own body as she reeled from the blow, her futile struggles had no effect on Atai as he knelt between her thrashing legs. Reaching down, he cupped his thick, hairy cock, eyes glittering with fatalistic intent and pressed it to-

_“Commander!”_

_“Ahsoka!”_

Atai’s expression would almost have been comical had she not been in agony as he penetrated her body with a mighty thrust just as two blaster bolts slammed into the side of his head in quick succession.

The shriek torn from her throat echoed through the room as her body bowed up and away, seeking to escape in an instinctive bid for freedom even as his muscles flexed in a last bid to hang on to her, preventing her escape.

Atai stared at her as the sound of running feet failed to pierce the shock of the moment and the excruciating seat of his body within hers. He slumped forward as she stared straight ahead, her whole body seized in denial. Closing down as it retreated to the furthest recesses of her thoughts, her consciousness as unable to reconcile what she was feeling with what she had just seen.

Voices swirled around her with the cacophony of blaster fire, but none of it registered; all she could think of was the pain to come; of distancing herself from it. She retreated from her body in those moments, reiterating to herself, as she’d  _trained_ herself with Hondo, to step outside the situation.

But Atai didn’t move as anticipated; didn’t budge.

And then the weight of him was gone.

Ahsoka’s instinctive reaction was immediate as she curled into the fetal position before she could consciously register any change except his absence, the room still swirling about her as if in a haze.

_“Ahsoka. Ahsoka!”_

_That_ voice penetrated her thoughts, the grim tone reaching something within her that pushed the fuzzy feeling partly from her brain and her head came up weakly.

Several white clad figures with familiar blue markings had entered the room, but it was the one dropping to his knees next to her, the familiar  _jaig_  eyed helmet a sight she’d never thought to see again, which held her attention.

_A dream_ , she thought disjointedly, hysterical laughter bubbling up within her throat but not finding voice as she stared wide eyed and unblinking at that helmet, unable to see through the visor to the eyes behind it.  _I’m dreaming; I’m broken. I want to be rescued; I never will be._

“Fives, get Kix -  _now_!”

“I’m on it, Rex.”

_Rex._

_Is it him? It can’t be. It can’t be; he didn’t save me, he didn’t-_

“Ahsoka?” His posture shielded her torso from the rest of the troopers in the room as he bent down, close, that helmeted gaze revealing nothing; nothing but her ridiculously  _normal_  looking visage in the mirror finish.

_I’m dreaming._

_I’m dreaming._

“Ahsoka? Ahsoka, it’s me; it’s Rex.”

So far gone within herself, she didn’t react when he lifted one hand towards her, stopped and then, decisively, ripped his helmet off, dropping it somewhere out of view. His shaved blonde hair was as precisely cut as ever over the rugged, almost harsh lines of his expression, but it was his eyes that caught her.

A stormy, volatile mixture of black and brown, the turmoil she could see within those orbs resonated deeply within her as their eyes locked.  Blazing with a passionate, fierce protective bent, guilt and remorse shone from the depths of his eyes, snaring her attention before the overall  _relief_  of his gaze dragged her in.

“You’re safe now,” he told her in an undertone.

_Safe._

It was a word she’d forgotten in this place; a sensation that was as foreign as being in a body that didn’t ache all the time – as getting a full night’s sleep.

“We’ll get you out of here, Ahsoka. I promise.”

It was the promise that did her in, convinced her he was real _. He’s here. It’s really him. He’s come for me._ He  _was_  here, before her; had come to rescue her when she’d needed it most! The thoughts were by rote, though she did little but watch him, not quite believing her senses.

Staring at him dumbfounded, she didn’t respond as he reached down beside her and, with efficient movements, pulled a blanket from the side of the bed and draped it around her nude body. His hands were shaking, a detail she noted abstractedly, yet somehow he managed not to touch her.

“Kix!”

The sound of his voice gave her shivers, unconsciously shrinking away from it. Reacting to her reaction, he made to withdraw and panic seized her immediately. Her hand shot out, wrapping around his wrist like a vice. “Don’t,” her throat was scratchy and hoarse from her screams, making her words rasp. “Rex-”

“I need to cover you, Ahsoka,” he admonished gruffly, “The boys don’t need to see you like this.”

“I-”

“Just rest; regain your strength,” he admonished, frowning as he turned his head over his shoulder. “ _Kix_  - I need you here!”

“Here, sir.”

“She’s been injured; make it quick.”

Ahsoka’s gaze stayed on Rex as the other man joined them, another behind him and another behind that, the feel of being hemmed in, of being  _trapped_  returning. Her breathing began to come in short gasps as her fingers tightened, digging into the plastoid and fabric that compromised his body suit; the strength of her grip drew his gaze back to her.

“Ahsoka?”

Her eyes darted to Kix as the medic knelt on her other side and she shrank back a little, towards Rex, cringing, curling in on herself, unable to reconcile the men around her with the company she so loved.

Only Rex meant security; safety.

“Sir,” Kix’s voice was soft and he moved away immediately following Ahsoka’s reaction. There was a compassion in it she just barely recognized. “Sir, I can’t help you.”

“Blast it, Kix, she’s been injured, that’s your job!”

“Yes sir; but  _she_  won’t let me.”

Kix was backing away but Ahsoka was still acutely conscious of the rest of the plastoid clad bodies standing around; of the  _men_ staring at her.

“This is Ahsoka; there’s no one she’d rather-”

“Not anymore, sir.” The medic turned to the rest of the men, ushering them away with cool efficiency and leaving Rex as alone with Ahsoka as they could be. “Back to your posts. Fives, take lead and punch us a hole; the Captain isn’t going to be able to lead this one.”

“I’m on it. General?” a pause “We've got her. She's... in rough shape, sir."

Rex’s words nearly drowned out Five’s transmission. “Kix, get back here!”

“I’m sorry sir, but you’re going to have to help her; she won’t let me touch her.”

There was an argument happening, but Ahsoka wasn’t fully aware of it, the notion of  _rescue_  having faded somewhere within that first day or two when instinct had overridden thought. Despite Rex’s presence, despite the fact she was clinging to his wrist with enough force to nearly bend the plastoid, she was still having trouble wrapping her brain around the notion.

_Freedom_.

Something she’d once taken for granted until it was gone and even now felt like some long ago dream.

“Easy,” Rex’s voice cut into her thoughts, squeezing her hand where it gripped his gauntlet. “I’m going to need that.”

“I’m sorry,” the words escaped before she could stop them.

“No harm done,” he assured her, even though her grip didn’t ease, searching her expression. “Kix seems to think you don’t want him around.”

A shiver raced through her and she swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper. “I don’t.”

“You’ve been hurt, Ahsoka, he should-”

_“No!”_

She tore herself away from him, clutching the blanket as she backed towards the wall, unaware of the way it drew the gaze of the troopers in the room, or the way they exchanged looks.

Fives voice dropped into a sudden lull in blaster fire. “Rex, if we’re going, we have to go - now.”

“Ahsoka-”

“Don’t let them touch me!”

Rex glanced back over his shoulder, his lips tightening, and moved in, clipping his bucket on his belt in a single movement. “Forgive me,” he said as he swept her into his arms with a slight struggle, wrapping the blanket firmly about her and spinning to his feet.

_“No!”_ On sheer reflex she fought him, squirming, the blind panic that hit both irrational and futile as Rex’s arms were durasteel bands around her body. He’d caught her just right, pinning her arms within the blanket and down, her body covered from neck to knees, her legs twisted in the fabric.

“Ahsoka!” Rex’s tone was hard, command and strength in every syllable as he moved towards the door. “I am not going to hurt you but you could get hurt if you don’t stop squirming.”

“Let me go,” she gasped, frantic to be free, to escape the sensation of being helpless; of being powerless. That it was  _Rex_ holding her didn’t matter; she was  _trapped_. “I can’t-”

“Free her arms, sir.”

Rex took a knee by the door as the other clones filed through, sweeping the corridor, Kix stepping outside with those words of advice.

She was placed on his thigh, the solid plastoid cover hard under her thighs as he unwound the fabric and freed her arms. As soon as she had room, she shot them out of the restrictive cloth and clutched herself about the waist, trying to control her breathing. Despite the protective posture, she was aware enough to tuck the blanket tightly about her nudity; having them watch her wasn’t something she could stand.

Shaking, trembling, she struggled to breathe, her feet flat on the ground as she struggled to get beyond the alarm his action had triggered; to reconcile it with her rescue.

_“Rex?”_

There was a heartbeat of silence after Five’s call.

“We have to go.”

She flinched, her eyes lifting to meet his and then away, shamed by her inability to control the reaction that had been more instinctive than anything.

“Put your arms around me, Ahsoka.”

Blaster fire sounded outside and Fives voice came again.  _“Rex!”_

His gaze didn’t leave hers, letting her see exactly what she needed to; the depth of his caring and concern and his determination to see her free of this place. It was exactly what she needed to see. It didn’t quite quiet the panic racing through her veins but her  _need_  to be free of this place was greater in that moment than her fear of being in his arms.

With a swiftness that startled them both, she launched herself against his chest, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, knocking into his pauldron, but gripping firmly. She inhaled sharply and exhaled on a shaky breath and tucked her face close to his neck, the  _smell_  of him calming her more than anything she’d yet felt.

It was familiar; the smell of honor and loyalty, protection and sacrifice. It was everything that made him who he was. Clinging to him, trembling as his arms automatically came up to hold her, she voiced one last plea. “Get me out of here, Rex.”

“Hang on.”

Clutching him, she stared behind him as he rose to his feet and began to move. The smell of burn ozone and scorched durasteel was heavy in the corridor, with the bodies of pirates littering the hallway.

She saw Kix fall in behind Rex, the others somewhere ahead, his blaster raised as he scanned the area to the rear. He didn’t look at her directly, but Ahsoka still felt as if he were staring. Shivering, the effort to remain still in Rex’s grasp took all her effort. Her instincts were still screaming at her to fight back, to break free, but Rex’s words echoed in the form of a new mantra in her head.

_We’ll get you out of here. I promise._

_I promise._

From somewhere up ahead, blaster fire echoed back to her along with a series of colorful insults - which could only have come from the ARC trooper on the team. As they traversed crossover corridors, passing through hatchways and taking service corridors between levels, they left a trail of bodies in their wake before emerging in a much larger space.

She knew it instantly, her muscles flexing with the temptation of freedom as the shift in pressures tingled through her senses.

“Almost there, Ahsoka,” Rex murmured, the sound seeming to rumble through her head more than actually be spoken. “We’re almost there.”

_We’ll get you out of here. I promise._

Clinging to that promise as much as she clung to his neck, she began to mouth the words as blaster fire suddenly intensified, red and blue bolts shrieking about them, Rex ducking into a side corridor and shielding her with his body. As a result, she could see what was happening as the troopers  advanced out of sight, the bolts screaming back and forth down the corridor.

“Kix-”

“On it, Captain.”

It was bare seconds of being alone with Rex when the familiar hum of a lightsaber penetrated the cacophony of battle and a blur passed from the hallway behind them, the screams of pirates echoing through the corridors from the hangar bay.

The brief skirmish was highlighted by several screams and the clashing-hum of a lightsaber meeting its mark. Noises that made her flinch and tuck her eyes to his shoulder, but not close them. She couldn’t close them; if she did, she was afraid of what she’d see.

“All clear Captain.”

 “For now.”

“Let’s go Rex; there’s plenty more where those came from.”

“Ahsoka?”

She tightened her grip in response, deliberately forcing herself to loosen it more around his neck when she caught the slightly choked sound of his voice, not willing to risk an audible response.

He seemed to understand the signal as he turned to move, offering gruff reassurance once more. “We’re almost there.”

Jarred by the sudden shift from standing still to a quick jog, she made no complaint as the rooms where she’d seen so much pain and agony faded behind her. Rex had her. Rex was taking her away. Rex would make  _sure_  Hondo could never harm her again.

Despite the fact that every base instinct which had been awakened during her time with the pirates was screaming at her to escape Rex’s arms - to run, to be as far from men,  _all_ men as possible - her mind was starting to clear and logic reassert itself.

She was in Rex’s embrace, held with care and conviction, a direct contrast to the cruelty she’d been exposed to these last four days. For all his hold was solid, there was a tenderness to it that had been sorely lacking in the treatment she’d otherwise received.

_Rex_  had saved her; hadn’t given up on her. In that moment as he was carrying her up the ramp to the  _Twilight_ , Ahsoka made a decision.

If Rex hadn’t given up on her, she wasn’t going to give up on herself either.

Later, much later, Rex would identify that moment as the first step she’d taken to reclaiming her life. The first of many steps in a recovery that would take a long, long time.

_fin_

* * *

 

**_Author's Note:_ ** _This is the end of this sequence of the story; the sequel, Ahsoka's road to recovery, is called "Defiance's Resurgence" and is currently being completed and uploaded to the site. Thanks for reading._


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